


Turning Tables

by defythemusic



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Day after Dia de Los Muertos, Forgiveness, Healing, Miguel tells his story, Nightmares, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2019-07-14 14:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 34,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16042637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defythemusic/pseuds/defythemusic
Summary: Reposted from FF.net. When Miguel returned to the Land of the Living, he expected no one to believe his story of being trapped in the Land of the Dead. Taking place shortly after helping Mama Coco remember, Miguel helps his living relatives come to terms with what happened and discovers something surprising left over from his visit to the Land of the Dead.





	1. The Morning After

After Mama Coco had finished telling her papá’s story, no one in the family spoke a word as they took in everything that Coco had said. With a soft smile on her wrinkled cheeks, Coco kissed her bisnieto’s forehead as he gave her a hug.

“Gracias, mijo. Thank you for helping me remember.”

“No problema, Mama Coco.” Came Miguel’s muffled reply as Coco secured him tightly in a cocoon-like embrace, something that she hadn’t been able to do for years, decades even. No one had expected her to be lucid again, least of all Miguel. Not even Elena, who was currently standing shell-shocked by the door, tears glistening in her eyes, unable to move or speak as Franco held her.

“Miguel why don’t you get some sleep?” Luisa said softly as she laid one hand on her pregnant stomach and another on her son’s shoulder as his eyelids drooped. “We can talk later, sí?"

“Mamá, I’m fine, honestly. Estoy bien” Miguel lied, just as he yawned with exhaustion. But one look from Luisa and the boy quietly nodded, defeat and fatigue in his normally bright brown eyes. Something that everyone hated seeing. Especially from a bright, active boy like Miguel who loved to run and play. Elena made her way over to ask her grandson what happened, but she was stopped by her husband.

“Elena, let him rest.” Franco spoke. “Our nieto is absolutely exhausted and needs to recover from what happened. You can talk to him later.”                                                           

“I think we all need to have a family meeting.” Elena murmured in an uncharacteristically low voice as she took in her grandson’s appearance. “But not here and not now. Berto, Quique, close the shop today. Gloria, make sure that the closed sign is up and visible.”

With a “Sí, Mama”, Berto, Enrique and Gloria left Mama Coco’s room, stopping only briefly to look at the family assembled.

“Abel can you go and clean up the courtyard and Miguel’s––”

At those words, Elena stopped speaking suddenly looking at her grandson, who looked close to falling asleep with his head in Coco’s lap. Abel silently nodded, catching onto the double meaning of her instructions. Now was not the time to bring up the reason why Miguel had run off last night.

“I’ll do my best, Abuelita, but I’ve never fixed one before.” Abel replied as he left the room with an uneasy look at his drowsy cousin.

Sighing softly, Elena kissed her mother’s wrinkly cheek as she tried to disentangle her grandson from her mother’s arms.

“Luisa, can you make sure he gets to bed? And then meet us in the living room.”

Quietly, Luisa gently unwrapped her son from Elena’s embrace as she helped him up, half carrying, half walking him towards the door, the fatigue from last night’s events beginning to wear him down.

At one point, it looked like Miguel was about to nosedive into the floor but Carmen quickly caught him and helped him up, directing him into Luisa’s arms again. When both Luisa and Miguel left the room, Elena turned to the remaining members of the family who were standing assembled near the door. Rosa had remained near her mama, silent and observant.  

“Rosa, can you take Manny and Benny to the playroom for a bit?” Carmen asked her daughter. Nodding affirmatively, Rosa stood up and took her brothers’ hands, heading for the small playroom in the back of the complex, just as Berto, Enrique and Gloria returned. No one moved or spoke a word.

Finally, after a few minutes, Enrique broke the silence with a “Let’s give Mama Coco some space” as he quietly lead everyone out of the room, leaving Elena and Coco behind.

“Volveré pronto, mamá.” Elena murmured as she squeezed her mamá’s hand.

“Te quiero.” Coco responded softly as her daughter left the room. 

Shutting the door quietly, Elena made her way up the stairs to Miguel’s bedroom stopping at the door. Hearing Luisa’s voice, Elena listened intently as Luisa asked Miguel where he had gone yesterday and how he had learned that song.

From a muffled reply, Elena managed to pick up the phrase _You won’t believe me._

“Por favor, Miguel. Please tell me. I’ll believe you no matter what. And so will Papá.” 

Judging by the silence, it was obvious that Miguel had fallen asleep. Sighing softly, Elena walked into her grandson’s bedroom. Miguel was fast asleep, wearing his pajamas, his head laying on Luisa’s lap. Luisa quietly lowered his head onto the pillow and covered him with a blanket as Elena gingerly ran her fingers through his hair. 

“Oh mijo. I’m so, so sorry.” Elena murmured. “I hope you can forgive me.”

Deciding that now was not the time to wake her grandson to ask where he went, Elena went back downstairs with her husband, her mind filled with questions. _What happened to Miguel last night? What is he not telling us?_


	2. Family Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family meeting is held to discuss what happened to Miguel.

As the remaining adults and Abel, who Elena deemed was old enough to sit in at the family meeting, sat down at the table, silence still lingered in the air. Elena caught her eldest grandson’s eye as she asked the silent question with her expression. _Can_ _it_ _be_ _fixed_? Discreetly, Abel shook his head. Sighing in disappointment and upset, Elena hobbled her way over to her chair at the head of the table, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.

“Mamá, if you’re tired, we can always do this––” Berto started to say as he helped his mother into a chair.

“No, mijo. This has to be done now,” Elena said with a determined air as she waved her son’s hand away. “My sleep can wait. Right now, we need to discuss exactly what happened last night with our Miguelito.”

As if on cue, Luisa came back to the living room, taking her place besides Enrique who had got up to help his wife into a specially-made chair that Berto had made for her earlier in the pregnancy. In her arms, she was holding Miguel’s white shirt and blue jeans.

“How is he, Luisa?” Enrique asked.

“He fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow,” Luisa confirmed as she answered her husband’s question. “I told him that we would talk to him later about what happened yesterday, if that is alright with you, Mama Elena?”

“Sí, that’s perfectly fine by me,” Elena answered as she looked at her daughter-in-law’s blouse, which was covered with watermarks. Miguel’s tears, if she had to venture a guess. Taking a deep breath, Elena began to speak but found she couldn’t. There weren’t any words to say that could even begin to explain what happened. But one question remained as Gloria spoke up.

“Luisa, where’s his red jacket?”

Shaking her head, Luisa shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea. Miguel said that he lost it last night in a cenote.”

Frowning slightly as Luisa rubbed her hand over her baby bump, Abel pointed out “But there aren’t any cenotes in Santa Cecilia. The closest one is on the edge of town and that’s an hour’s walking distance!”

“We looked for him everywhere in that cemetery, Luisa.” Carmen said softly as she brushed a bit of hair out of her face. “And at the Plaza and everywhere in Santa Cecilia. No one saw him all night. Es como si hubiera desaparecido en el aire!”

“So where did he GO?” Elena spoke loudly, but not before Enrique shushed her, pointing upstairs. “He wouldn’t have run off if I hadn’t––”

“Mamá, cálmese! Miguel’s sleeping!” as Enrique put a hand on his mother’s shoulder. “Let’s not wake him up now. I want to find out where he went last night too, but now is not the time to ask him. But what we do need to know is how to proceed from here with the music ban.”

“Shouldn’t it be lifted, mija?” asked a familiar wizened voice.

Startled, Elena turned to see Rosa pushing her mamá’s wheelchair out to the living room, a serious look on her face. “The twins fell asleep in the playroom, so I moved them into the nursery and went to check on Mamá Coco. She said that she wanted to be here.” Elena nodded in agreement, helping Rosa move her Mamá’s wheelchair to the table.

“Gracias Rosa.” Carmen said as she gently hugged her daughter. Giving Elena and her parents a quick hug, Rosa quietly left the room, heading back towards the family playroom.

Taking a deep breath, Elena addressed the entire family as she stood up, using the table as support as she walked over to her mother, kneeling down at her wheelchair.

“Mamá, are you sure it won’t be too painful for you?” Elena spoke, remembering an incident that had happened when she was a little girl and her mother had been injured because of music. But Coco simply smiled and touched her daughter’s cheek.

“Mija, I have been through a lot in my ninety-seven years of life,” Coco said with a passion no one had heard in years. “And every day for all those years, I have missed music more than anything.”

Hugging her mother as tightly but gently as she could, Elena nodded and turned to the rest of the family, a satisfied smile written on her face.

“Okay, Mamá, we can have music in the family again. But first we need to find out what happened to Miguel after he ran off yesterday.”

With a gasp, the rest of the family let out sighs of relief. For Luisa, Carmen and Franco, they simply smiled, thrilled at the idea of playing music again after so long. But one thought lingered in everyone’s mind.

“Mamá, I think we also need to do two other things,” Enrique remarked as he moved his chair close to his mother’s. “We need to apologize to Miguel for breaking his guitar……” (Elena winced at this but nodded) “……and find out where he went yesterday. Because if he wasn’t at the cemetery and he wasn’t at the Plaza, where was he?”

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me, Papá.” Said a voice by the doorway, causing nearly everyone to jump in shock. Miguel had come downstairs and looked beyond exhausted, but no longer at the point of falling over. Sitting down at his designated chair, Miguel turned and addressed the family, fidgeting slightly as he did, clearly very nervous.

“Go on, mijo. We’ll listen to you. I promise.” Luisa spoke as she put her hand on her son’s shoulder.

Closing his eyes briefly, Miguel stood up, getting ready to give the speech of his life.


	3. The Speech of a Lifetime

Miguel fidgeted anxiously on his feet, nervous about telling anyone about what happened. He was tired, anxious and very worried. Who would believe a kid who went to a place that some assumed existed only in the imagination. A place that no one was supposed to visit until after they were dead!

“Go on, mijo,” A soft voice broke Miguel out of his daze. His Mama Coco. “Está bien.” Looking around, the other members of the family nodded encouragingly, giving Miguel courage as he shakily stood up, using the table for balance.

“Okay. Well after I ran away, I ran to the plaza, hoping that one of the mariachis would let me use their guitar.” Miguel said quietly. “For the contest. But they laughed at me and told me sorry, but no. So, I went to de la Sucks’—err—de la Cruz’s mausoleum.”

At that Miguel stopped talking, anxiously looking at his family who had been listening very intently at the moment. Elena tensed, clearly very upset at what happened that had caused her grandson to run away. Silently, she got up and left the room. Seconds later, she returned, a box of tissues in her arms. 

Shakily, she made her way over to the chair at the head of the table, squeezing Miguel’s shoulder as she went to sit down. Franco sat by his wife’s chair, holding her hand to comfort her. Miguel looked alarmed at his abuelita’s behavior, but Elena nodded her head, despite the fact that she couldn’t vocalize the words she wanted to say. Luckily, she didn’t have to.

“Go on, mijo. We’re all listening.” Franco piped up. “And no matter how loco it sounds, we’ll believe you.”

Gathering his courage after noises of agreement from the rest of the family, Miguel proceeded with his anecdote, still fidgeting but not looking nervous anymore.

“Anyway, I went to grab the guitar and the next thing I know, there were glowing petals everywhere. I knew something had happened, but I didn’t know what. When the groundskeeper came in, I tried to apologize, but he didn’t even see me. He couldn’t see me.”

Shocked, Enrique leaned forward and asked “Mijo, what do you mean he couldn’t see you? Did you hide outside?" 

In a clear, resonant voice, Miguel simply answered “No Papá. He couldn’t see me because I had been cursed. When I took the guitar, I had stolen from the dead. Stealing from the dead means you get cursed. Desaparecí de la Tierra de los vivos.”

Gesturing for Miguel to continue, Enrique brushed his hands through his hair. This story was sounding more and more true by the minute. Even Rosa, the family cynic, couldn’t find anything about the story that didn’t sound true. 

“De todas formas, I ran outside to get anyway from the groundskeeper, but no one saw me or even heard me. I could see them, but they couldn’t see me. I saw you and Mamá looking for me, Papá. I tried to run towards you, but I ran right through you and fell into a grave plot.”

At this, everyone in the room gasped, shocked. But Miguel plowed on, determined to share his story and knowing that he hadn’t even gotten to the worst part of the story yet.                                                                                                 

“Anyway, after I fell in, someone noticed me and helped me out. But she was…. well….”

Miguel paused, not sure how to continue. It was only after his parents quietly smiled in encouragement and Mama Coco touched his cheek that Miguel found his voice again.

“A skeleton. It was a dead woman. Anyway, after realizing she was a skeleton, we both started screaming. I ran and hid, and it turned out that skeletons were all over the graveyard. Turns out the only one who could see me from the living world was Dante.”

Hearing his name, Dante ran in at that point, licking Miguel feverishly. Elena made to shoo Dante away but was stopped by both Franco and Enrique.

“Not now, Mamá. Let Miguel finish the story.”

Reluctantly scratching the dog behind the ears, Elena gestured for Dante to sit near her and keep quiet. “Go on, Miguelito. It’s alright.”

“Why only Dante?” Rosa asked suspiciously as she walked over to her cousin’s chair. “Why was he the only one who could see you? 

“I’ll get to that in a bit, Rosa. Anyway, I saw Papa Julio, Tia Victoria and all our dead relatives.” Miguel replied earnestly as everyone hung on his every word. “They were all there.”


	4. Admittance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Miguel continues his story, the family realizes how much they have let their Miguelito down in not letting him be who he wanted to be.

**Turning Tables Chapter 4**

Elena couldn’t find the words to describe what was happening. As Miguel kept speaking of his encounter with her dead sister, father, aunt and uncles, her mind went numb with shock.

If it were any other family gathering, she would have told Miguel to eat his food and save the stories for later. But something about this story seemed on point and accurate. Elena immediately knew right away that her grandson was telling the truth.

“Abuelita? Are you ok?” asked Rosa as she gently touched the older woman’s forearm.

Shaking her head slightly to clear the imaginary fog, Elena nodded and motioned for Miguel (who had stopped talking) to continue. Voice shaking slightly, Miguel continued the story, worried about who would believe him and who wouldn’t. 

“So anyway, Tíos Oscar and Felipe ran up to the group and said that Mamá Imelda couldn’t cross over because she got stuck on the other side.” Miguel said as Abel frowned slightly.

“Other side, primo?” Abel asked as he shifted in his chair slightly looking back towards the ofrenda room.

“The Land of the Dead. When we crossed the marigold bridge, I found out that in order to cross the bridge to the living side, you need to have your photo on an ofrenda. That’s why Mamá Imelda couldn’t cross over. So, we went back across the marigold bridge to the Land of the Dead and met up with Mamá Imelda.”

“You saw Mamá Imelda, mijo?” Luisa asked.

“Sí, Mamá. She was smacking a computer, calling it a devil box because it said that her photo was not on the ofrenda.” 

Stifling a laugh, Luisa remembered an incident when a customer’s cellphone went off with a chirpy ringtone, causing Elena to nearly smack the customer with her chancla. Technology was something that wasn’t in abundance at the zapatería, mostly due to Elena’s persistence that no music should be allowed. TVs were muted, and no computers were to be seen.

By that point Miguel let out a yawn, the storytelling taking a toll on his energy levels. With Berto’s help, Elena guided Miguel to Enrique’s open arms. Protesting, Miguel made to turn away towards his chair at the table but was stopped by Elena. 

“No, no, Abuelita I’m alright. Por favor, I want to tell you everything…”

Touching his cheek softly, Elena felt her grandson fidget slightly under her touch. “I know you do niño, but you need to sleep. You can tell us the rest tomorrow, ok?”

“S-si Abuelita.” Miguel answered softly, his voice languid and tired as he leaned against his papá. Gently, his papá picked him up and within seconds, Miguel was dead to the world, his head leaning on Enrique’s shoulder.

Putting her head in her hands, Elena came over to her sleeping nieto and whispered in his ear “Oh mijo, I love you so much. Lo siento mucho. I let you down.” Sleepily, Miguel opened his eyes and nodded once before falling back asleep in his papá’s arms.

“Mamá, we all let Miguel down.” Berto amended, the rest of the family agreeing with him.

“We let him down by denying him the right to be who he wanted to be.” Luisa added softly.

At that, Elena wept softly, her emotional endurance pushed to its limits. Her son and daughter-in-law’s words had struck home. Standing up to meet her height, Franco went over and held her, letting her get her emotions out. 

“Elena, it is getting rather late. Maybe we should all go to bed and we can talk to Miguel again in the morning before he goes to school.”  Franco pointed out as he looked at the clock which read 11:31 PM. 

Murmuring in a low voice that only Franco could hear, Elena also added “I owe Miguel more than a new guitar.”

Warily, Elena trudged up the stairs to her and Franco’s bedroom, exhausted and worried. Miguel had been through a lot in the past 24 hours and it would take a lot of time to process everything.

* * *

 

The next day, the whole family gathered at the table for breakfast, anxious to hear the rest of the story about Miguel’s adventures through the Land of the Dead. Enrique, in the meantime, went ahead and addressed the family who had gathered in the room as Miguel got ready for the day upstairs.

“I believe Miguel’s story. It would explain a lot of things that happened when Miguel came back.” Enrique spoke clearly as he watched the rest of the family who murmured in agreement. 

“Like why his red jacket went missing or the fact that he had a scraped elbow.” Gloria pointed out, twirling a loose strand of hair in between her fingers. “Miguel isn’t the type to be so reckless and he loves that red jacket.” 

“In all honesty Glorita, he did climb up on that roof to proclaim his heritage,” Enrique replied as he looked towards the door for his son. “But there are still a few things that I don’t understand. Like why he referred to de la Cruz as de la Sucks?” 

“Who knows? But what I still don’t understand is how he could have learned that song he played for Mama Coco.” Carmen murmured as she brushed Rosa’s hair. “Who taught him that version of _Remember Me_?”


	5. Skeletons in the Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An exhausted Miguel tells his living family about how he met Héctor.

Miguel trudged down the stairs, groggy and disoriented. Sleep had not come easy to him last night and despite the fact that his whole family seemed to believe him, he knew that the worse part of the story was yet to come.

No one knew that his former idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, had attempted to kill him twice or the fact that Héctor was the true songwriter of all de la Cruz songs. Miguel also knew that once he told the truth about who de la Cruz was and what he did to Héctor, there was no going back.

Taking another steadying breath, Miguel made his way to the family room where the entire family was gathered.

“Are you alright, Miguelito?” Elena asked as she helped her grandson over to the table. Nodding, Miguel shuffled over to the table, looking sleepier than ever before.

“Mijo, did you sleep at all last night?” asked Enrique as he took in his son’s unusually haggard appearance and red-rimmed eyes. It soon became clear to Enrique that Miguel had cried himself to sleep, just like Luisa had done the night Miguel ran off.

Shaking his head, Miguel moved his way over to his chair, stopping only to give each member of the family a hug. Enrique made to ask his son what was wrong but a quick headshake from Luisa indicated one thing: **_We’ll ask him later._**

Silently, Miguel scanned the room, as if to make sure everyone was there. With a gentle prod from Elena, Miguel began talking, his tired voice filling the room.

“We met up with Mamá Imelda at the Family Reunions Building and it turns out that when I took the foto off the ofrenda, she wasn’t allowed into the Land of the Living. She tried to send me back to the living world, but her blessing didn’t work.” 

Franco sat back in his chair, squeezing Elena’s hand. “Mijo, what do you mean that her blessing didn’t work?”

Looking his abuelo straight in the eye, Miguel responded “In order to be sent back to the Land of the Living, you need your family’s blessing before sunrise or you’ll be a part of the Land of the Dead forever.”

At the word ‘forever’, both Elena and Luisa gasped, tears pooling in their eyes as they leaned back against their chairs. But Miguel knew beforehand that certain bits of his adventure would be upsetting for Luisa and Elena to hear and he walked over to reassure them.  

“Mamá, Abuelita. it’s ok. I’m fine now.”

Pulling a tissue from her pocket to dab at her eyes, Luisa quietly responded “Lo sé, mijo. But the fact that you could have been stuck there forever scares me.”

After waiting a minute to let Luisa and Elena get their breath back, Miguel pushed forward, more determined than ever to finish the story. 

“Anyway, the clerk at the Land of the Dead found a marigold petal for Mamá Imelda to bless me with and she sent me home immediately, with the condition that I couldn’t play music again.”

At that, Rosa rolled her eyes, knowing that her 12-year old cousin would never adhere to that rule. “So, what happened when you came home, primo? Te esfumaste de nuevo?”

Miguel nodded seriously, taking his cousin unexpectedly off-guard, “Sí. I tried to grab the guitar again and I immediately was taken back to the Land of the Dead. I tried to get a blessing from our other ancestors, but no one wanted to give me a blessing because they didn’t want to go against Mamá Imelda’s rules. Everyone was afraid of her except Tía Victoria and even she wouldn’t give me her blessing.”

Elena nodded slightly, not surprised in the least. Her older sister had never been afraid of her grandmother, not as a child or even as an adult. Mamá Imelda’s word was law in the family and even when Victoria was suffering from a horrible illness in her final years, she upheld all of Mamá Imelda’s rules.

“I ran off after that and bumped into another skeleton, Héctor. He had gotten in trouble for trying to get across the bridge illegally and he had no photo on anyone’s ofrenda. We ran out into an alleyway and he disguised me as a skeleton, to help me blend in so I could find de la Su-Cruz.”

Shivering in poorly hidden disgust that baffled Enrique, Miguel continued his narrative. “Anyway, we went to the Arts District as Héctor knew some people there who could help us get a concert where de la Cruz was performing. We met up with Héctor’s friend Ceci, and she was able to—”

“Mijo, did you say Ceci?” Coco took in a sharp breath, causing Miguel to pause his story yet again as his great-grandmother turned to face him.

Confused, Miguel looked at his bisabuela in shock, “Sí, Mamá Coco. Did you know her?”

“When mis niñas was little, a woman named Ceci used to order dance shoes from us all the time,” Coco reminisced. “When Victoria died, we stopped making them altogether.” With her mother’s words, Elena turned slightly pale, the memories of her sister’s untimely death too painful to remember. 

Deciding not to mention Frida Kahlo and her dancers until later, Miguel continued on with the story.

“We went on ahead and wound up meeting with some other musicians who made fun of Héctor and teased him for dying from eating chorizo. Héctor didn’t like the jokes but we found out that de la Cruz was busy hosting some party across town. So, we went to Shantytown in order to get a guitar, but I found out something even more shocking.”                                                          

“Which was what, mijo?” asked Berto. 

“Héctor used to be a musician. When we went to ask a friend of Héctor’s named Chicharrón if we could borrow his guitar, Chicharrón began shimmering and eventually he disappeared after Héctor sent him off with a song.”

“Shimmering? Send off? What happened?” Abel asked as he moved his chair closer to his cousin, in shock at what he was hearing.

“Once someone from the living world forgets someone from the Land of the Dead, the person from the Land of the Dead vanishes forever in a cloud of gold dust. It’s called the Final Death. Without a foto or anyone remembering him, Chicharrón disappeared from the Land of the Dead. Permanently. And the same thing would happen to Héctor if his foto wasn’t up on an ofrenda.”


	6. Explaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An exhausted Miguel tells his living family about how he met Héctor.

Turning Tables Chapter 6

Digesting what their Miguelito had said, no one in the family said anything as Miguel paused to catch his breath. Luisa lowered herself to sit down in a nearby chair while Elena ran out to the kitchen to get the family some food. When she returned, Miguel was already answering questions from his somewhat shaken relatives.

“Miguel, what happened after you watched that man disappear?” Carmen asked, twirling her napkin in her hands nervously. 

Taking a bite of a tamale, Miguel answered “Well, Héctor explained what the final death was and then we headed out to the trolley station to the Plaza de la Cruz for the contest. I was going to perform ‘Remember Me’ but Héctor talked me out of it and convinced me to perform ‘Un Poco Loco’ instead. So, we sang it, in front of hundreds of people and I was so nervous.”

Gathering up his courage, Miguel took the plunge to ask Elena a question “If it’s ok, Abuelita, can I perform it for la familia?”

Nodding distractedly, Elena agreed as she sat back in her chair, “Go on, mijo. Estoy bien.”. Clearly something was on her mind, but Miguel decided not to push it. 

Taking a deep breath, Miguel picked up the guitar that was in the corner of the room and began strumming furiously, “Un Poco Loco” coming to life as its vibrant sounds filled the room. Rosa and Abel began clapping along to the rhythm, clearly enjoying the music. 

As Miguel played on, other members of the family looked at each other in shock and pride. After the song ended, silence filled the room. Miguel held his breath, clearly terrified that his family wasn’t going to accept the music after all. Something Enrique picked up on as he and the rest of the family walked over to reassure the anxious 12-year old. Then the silence broke with compliments from the family. 

“You played so well, Miguelito!”

“That was well done, mijo!”

“Muy bien, primo!”

“Recuerdo a Papá cantando esa canción. Lo escribió para Mamá.” Coco’s voice said as she fondly smiled, remembering her deceased parents. 

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Miguel allowed himself to be hugged by his mamá and tías as they congratulated him. But one person stayed back, watching the scene from a distance.

“Elena? Mija, what’s wrong?” Coco asked as her daughter stood near the door. 

Shaking, Elena left the room again, tears streaming down her face, leaving everyone stunned and in shock. Miguel looked worried that he might have done something wrong, but Luisa hugged him and reassured him, “She feels badly about what happened, mijo. We should have been supporting your music, mijo instead of forcing you to hide it from us. We all let you down.”

Miguel nodded seriously as he hugged his mother back. After letting go, Miguel added “I forgive Abuelita for what she did, Mamá. But I didn’t mean to make her cry, lo joro.”

Feeling tears dripping onto his head, Miguel quickly realized that Elena had come back and was hugging him with so much ferocity that it would put Tía Rosita to shame. Despite the fact that Elena was hugging him tightly to the point where he almost couldn’t breathe, Miguel managed to pick up three words: Lo siento mucho. Turning around, Miguel hugged his abuelita back with all his might, remembering how he had done this for Mamá Imelda a few days before in the Land of the Dead. 

Unable to get out of her wheelchair to go and hug her distraught daughter, Coco settled for touching her daughter’s cheek to wipe away her tears. After a few tense minutes, Elena’s tears began to slow down, and she spoke again, this time wiping her eyes on a napkin. 

“That was a …very good song, mijo.” Elena spoke slowly as if treading on thin ice.

“Tu juegas maravillosamente,” Carmen replied, very proud of her nephew’s abilities and happy to be hearing music again after so many years. Meanwhile, Luisa silently gestured for her son to continue his story, feeling that there was more to hear.

“Anyway, we finished the song and I spotted mi familia looking for me, so I ran offstage,” Looking slightly ashamed, Miguel paused momentarily before speaking again. “Héctor figured out who I was when la maestro de ceremonias announced that mi familia was looking for me. I told him earlier that I didn’t have any family in the Land of the Dead. Héctor tried to take me back to them, but I refused, threw his foto at him and ran off down the street.”

Squeezing his shoulder to encourage him to go on after Miguel looked down, ashamed, Enrique quietly sat down next to his son. “Go on, Miguelito. It’s ok.” 

Stealing a nervous glance at Dante, who had walked over to reassure him, Miguel went on with his story. 

“I shooed Dante away when he tried to pull me back towards Héctor and I wound up revealing that I was alive to everyone in the street. So, I ran away again, but I got caught by Mamá Imelda and Pepita, so I ran into an alleyway to get away from them.”

“Who’s Pepita, primo?” Rosa asked curiously.

“Mamá Imelda’s alebrije,” Miguel answered. Looking at his bisabuelita “I think Pepita might have been her pet cat when she was alive?”

Nodding, Coco confirmed her great-grandson’s story. “Sí, Mamá had a pet cat por años and she named it Pepita. Ella amaba a ese gato.” 

Shaking silently, Miguel faltered and looked close to tears at what he was about to say next as the family leaned in closer to listen. 

“Mamá Imelda went after me, but I managed to slip through a fence and get away. She tried to tell me to come back but I told her no and that she’ll never understand why music makes me happy. So, she sang a brief bit of a song she liked and then told me how I had to make a choice. I didn’t want to, so I ran away again, up the stairs and towards de la Suc-Cruz’s tower.”


	7. Expect the Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family learns just how much of an emotional impact Miguel’s adventure had on him.

As Miguel finished his angered statement towards de la Cruz, the exhaustion began to catch up to him as he teetered dangerously towards the ground. Enrique meant to ask his son why he kept referring to the musician as de la Sucks but decided against it, the poor boy looking exhausted beyond belief. That question would have to be answered at a later time.

Catching on to Miguel’s fatigue, Luisa and Carmen managed to intercept the boy before he met the ground.

“Miguel, I think that’s enough for one night.” Luisa murmured as she attempted to walk her son towards the stairs. “We can always talk more tomorrow.”

But Miguel shook his head, determined to go on with the story as he sleepily made his way back over to his chair at the table.

“No, Mamá, I’m alright. Please.” As Miguel yawned, his eyelids drooped even further before he collapsed into his papá’s arms, sound asleep. Without a word, Enrique picked his son up and carried him up to his bedroom for the third time that week, leaving a concerned family behind.

Miguel didn’t even stir as Enrique exchanged his son’s regular clothes for pajamas and tucked him in, the young boy completely worn out. Silently, Enrique turned out the light and shut the door, clearly worried about his son’s emotional and mental health.

Walking back downstairs, Enrique turned to address the family, who had gathered in the living room. Sharing a concerned look with his wife, Enrique sat down on the couch next to her and held her in his arms, the evening’s story taking a toll on him as well.

Breaking the silence, Elena stood up and addressed the family, eyes still red from crying and voice slightly scratchy.

“Pobrecito, he looked so tired.” Elena commented shakily. “I hope we didn’t push him too much into telling what happened.”

Looking over at his mother, Enrique nodded in agreement. “We didn’t push him, Mamá. Pero estoy de acuerdo contigo. Let’s talk to him tomorrow after he gets some rest and we can find out what happened next.”

Standing up, Enrique made his way up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with Luisa. Everyone else followed behind, clearly exhausted and very worried about Miguel.

* * *

 

Sleep didn’t come for Enrique as he tossed and turned that night, clearly worried about his son. Over the past two days that Miguel had been telling his story, he had become more tired and extremely clingy to his family. Traits that didn’t suit Miguel’s personality at all.

Overcome with these thoughts, Enrique finally fell asleep but was quickly jolted awake by Luisa twenty minutes later. She looked fearful and scared as her husband woke.

“Mi amor, what is it? Is something wrong? Is it the baby?”

Shaking her head and putting a finger to her lips, Luisa waddled as fast as she could down the hallway towards her son’s room. Loud screams were coming from inside. As the screaming echoed into the corridor, other members of the family woke up, wondering what the commotion was about.

Very worried, Enrique opened the door to his son’s room and went inside, the rest of the family electing to stay behind to avoid frightening Miguel further. But nothing could have prepared Enrique for what was going on inside Miguel’s room.

Miguel was screaming, his eyes closed as he fought against a horrific nightmare. His sheets were matted at the foot of his bed and his pajamas were soaked from a mixture of tears and sweat.

“ ** _NO_** , **_PLEASE!_** **_I_** **_WANT_** **_TO_** **_GO_** **_HOME_**! **_PLEASE_** **_DON’T_** **_THROW_** **_ME_** **_IN_** **_THERE!!_**   _ **PLEASE!!**_   ** _HÉCCTOOOR!!”_**

Gently shaking his son awake, Enrique sat down on the bed and pulled Miguel into his arms. “Miguel, wake up, it’s alright. You were having a bad dream. You’re here and you’re safe now.”

Slowly, Miguel woke up and as his vision cleared to focus on his papá, he looked down, clearly very embarrassed and extremely shaken as tears leaked down his face.

“Lo siento, Papá. I didn’t mean to, I swear, I didn’t mean to wake anyone up, I’ll—”

Holding up his hand to stop Miguel, Enrique signaled for Luisa and Elena to come in, both women hovering near the door in case Miguel needed them. They sat down at the foot of the bed, wearing looks of concern on their faces.

“Miguel, it’s alright.” Luisa said reassuringly. “You did nothing wrong. It’s okay.”

But Miguel was still in near hysterics, worrying Elena as she watched her grandson cry and wail. Something that he had not done in years. Gently, she pulled Miguel from Enrique’s embrace into her own.

Making up her mind in a matter of minutes, Elena began humming. Random notes at first, but eventually she started humming the song that Miguel had played for her mother. Slowly, but surely, Miguel fell back into a deep sleep and Elena silently left the room, completely baffled about what had just happened. 

As Enrique got himself ready for bed, he couldn’t help but think about two things. His mother had never sung at any time in her life and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Miguel’s story was about to take a very interesting turn. And it wasn’t going to be good.


	8. Fatigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Miguel’s nightmare has a huge effect on the family as they try to help the anxious 12-year old.

As Miguel opened his eyes, everything that had happened the previous night came back in a flash. He remembered having a nightmare and was sung to by Abuelita—wait, what? She was the one who sung to him? And maybe Papá as well? Mulling over that certain bit of information as he replayed the last night in his head, Miguel sluggishly put on his school uniform and got ready to face the day.

Trudging downstairs with no sign of his usual pep, Miguel noticed looks of sympathy on everyone’s faces as he took his place at the table. Even Rosa was silent as she took in her cousin’s red-rimmed eyes and sluggish behavior, keeping any unsavory remarks to herself. Now was not the time to make fun of Miguel, especially after everything he had been through over the past few days.

“Está bien, mijo?” Enrique asked as he watched Miguel pick at a tamale, showing no signs of eating it. Almost immediately Miguel began perking up, but Enrique knew his son well. He knew that Miguel was only doing this to convince everyone that there was nothing wrong.

“Sí, Papá.” Miguel said with fake pep in his voice. “I’m ok.” But one look from his parents and Miguel cringed, knowing that he’d been found out. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, but Miguel held firm, refusing to cry anymore as he ate his tamale slowly. “I’m really ok! I promise!” he said as Luisa walked over to him, concerned and suspicious that her son wasn’t telling the truth.

“Mijo, are you sure you want to go to school?” Coco asked as Rosa wheeled her over to Miguel. “You look so tired.”

Nodding, Miguel quickly reassured his bisabuelita that he was fine, but she knew better. Before Miguel had come downstairs that morning, Elena had warned the family to not bring up what had happened the previous night. Coco gently touched her great-grandson’s cheek and with a hug whispered “If you’re sure, mijo.”

Sighing internally, Elena watched the interaction from the foot of the table, clearly very worried for her grandson. Last night was terrifying and knowing that someone had the nerve to injure her precious nieto made Elena’s blood boil. Miguel’s bruises from that night probably had come from whoever injured him in his nightmare.

The minute breakfast ended, Rosa and Miguel headed towards la intermedia with Rosa trying to keep a sleep-deprived Miguel from taking a trip in the mud.

As soon as the two left, Elena turned back towards the rest of the family, who was engrossed in conversation about what had happened the night before with Miguel.

“I think for Miguel’s sake, we should wait a few days before we ask him anything else about what happened,” Enrique said to everyone.

Nodding in agreement, Luisa added “If we push Miguel too much, it’ll make him afraid to tell us anything else.”

“And the last thing we all want is for Miguel to hide more secrets from us.” Elena said, getting up to clear the table. “I’m afraid that was probably because of me. I pushed him too hard earlier. Even before Dia de Los Muertos”

Standing up to address the family, Elena pointed to Miguel’s chair at the table.

“Under no circumstances is anyone to ask Miguel to tell more of what happened until he’s ready,” Elena said as she fixed the family with one of her no-nonsense looks. “Entiendo?”

But as soon as her grandchildren came back from school that day, Miguel was looking worse than he did that morning. And according to Rosa, he was the school’s gossip topic. Nearly everyone at school had heard about him running away on Dia de los Muertos and his 12-hour disappearance was all anyone was talking about. That and the disappearance of de la Cruz’s guitar.

“We didn’t tell anyone about where he went, Abuelita.” Rosa said as she helped set the table for dinner that night. “But whenever anyone brought up the de la Cruz guitar, Miguel would get upset.”

When Miguel entered the workshop the next day, he wearily nodded hello to everyone and made a beeline for his no-longer-secret de la Cruz shrine, astounding everyone. By the time Elena went to fetch him for dinner, Miguel had been hard at work for nearly three hours.

“Miguelito, es hora de cenar.” Elena asked as she went up to the stairs of the attic. “I made chileajo. Your favorite.” No reply came from inside, so Elena knocked on it again. This time the door opened and what Elena saw nearly shook her.

Miguel had dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he’d been crying again. And it looked like he had been taking down pieces of paper from the wall and throwing them into a waste bin. From what Elena could tell, it was Ernesto de la Cruz movie posters and records.

“Mijo, what are you doing? Why are you throwing all this stuff away?”

 

 


	9. Revelation Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miguel reveals the big news to his family and tears down his hideout.

**Turning Tables Chapter 9**

**Hello everyone! Thanks for all the reviews and follows so far! They mean the world to me! I really wanted to take my time and research this next chapter very carefully, so I hope you all like it!**

Miguel stormed up to his not-secret room, furious and livid. School had been pretty bad that day and with his disappearance being the talk of the town, he couldn’t get a moment’s rest. No one would leave him or Rosa alone and all he could think about was de la Cruz and how much he hated him. 

Now, three hours later after coming back from school, Miguel was tearing down his former hideout, throwing away anything that even resembled de la Cruz as his abuelita watched in shock.

“Mijo, what are you doing? Why are you throwing all this stuff away?” Elena asked as Miguel picked up a poster and shredded it, throwing the scraps away into a waste bin.

“He’s not a real musician, Abuelita. El es fako.”

Miguel uncharacteristically stood resilient and determined despite the tears coursing down his cheeks in a flood-like effect as Elena stood by in shock. Clearly, something happened after her Miguelito met de la Cruz to cause him to start hating someone he used to idolize. Without a word, Miguel picked up the waste bin and headed back downstairs towards the dining room, leaving behind a shocked Elena.

Dinner was a quiet affair that night, no one speaking about Miguel’s adventure, not wanting to pressure Miguel until he was ready. Even Elena was silent, only getting up to fetch items from the kitchen and to encourage Miguel to eat more (which he did). Miguel looked too tired to say anything about his adventure, so Luisa encouraged to wait until the next day in order for him to get some sleep.

The next evening after dinner, everyone gathered in the living room, anxious to hear more about what had happened. Luckily, Miguel didn’t have any nightmares the night before, but it didn’t mean that the next part of the story would be less disturbing. Especially for Luisa and Elena, who were already worried due to the nightmare that had happened a few days prior. 

Taking a deep breath, Miguel quickly made sure that both Luisa and Elena were sitting down before he started talking. Hesitantly, Miguel began the next part of the story. 

“After de la Cruz and I met, we hung out for a few hours, meeting his friends and walking through his huge house. By that point he knew I was alive. He even offered me a chance to perform at his Sunrise Spectacular. He was going to bless me with a petal to send me home but Héctor showed up and angrily told me that I had promised to put his picture up.”

Miguel went silent after that, but after some gentle encouragement from Enrique and Franco, Miguel found his voice again, talking very quickly and nervously.

“Héctor had told me earlier that he and de la Cruz knew each other but I didn’t think anything of it. But apparently Héctor had written all of de la Cruz’s songs and never got credit for it. When Héctor and de la Cruz started touring together, Héctor became homesick and wanted to go back to his wife and daughter after being on the road for months.” 

Pausing briefly to grab a drink of water, Miguel swallowed down the liquid in a flash and kept going with the story. He quickly stole a glance over to Coco, worried that the next bit of the story would be upsetting for her to hear. Luckily, Elena caught on to this and went over to sit down next to her mother, holding her hand. Silently, Elena gestured for Miguel to continue.

“So, when de la Cruz found out, he became desperate because he wanted Héctor’s songs. He poisoned a shot of tequila and tricked Héctor into drinking it. Héctor wound up dying while they were walking to the train station.” Miguel said, watching his bisabuelita very carefully as she listened to his story.

“Anyway, when Héctor found out about de la Cruz murdering him, he was so mad. He actually attacked Ernesto and had to be pulled off him and he was thrown into a cenote by de la Cruz’s security guards. But when Ernesto asked me whether or not I believed Héctor…….” Pausing only a moment to take a deep inhale to prepare himself for the worse, Miguel continued with “I got thrown in too.”

Everyone gasped in shock as they took in Miguel’s words. Luisa and Elena started crying by that point, extremely distraught again at the thought of Miguel in danger. Carmen and Gloria were white as sheets, too shocked to say or do anything as they tried to comfort the upset women. Berto left the room and came back moments later, armed with two boxes of tissues that he passed to Luisa and Elena, who were being comforted by their husbands. 

“I was okay, other than being soaking wet, but when Héctor began shimmering, we realized that his daughter was forgetting him. Just like his friend in Shantytown.” Miguel said, pausing slightly as he observed his family, clearly in shock about what had happened.

No longer in tears, Elena looked up at his grandson and gently gave him a hug to encourage him to continue. Miguel inhaled deeply, knowing that the next bit of the story could go one of two ways: belief or disbelief. 

“Héctor told me that his daughter’s name was Coco, so I showed him the photo of Mamá Imelda and Mamá Coco to see if he recognized it. It turns out he did.” Taking a deep breath, Miguel got ready to take the plunge. “Héctor is Mamá Coco’s papá. He revealed that he only wanted to see Mama Coco again. He never meant to leave her or Mama Imelda for music at all.” 

Standing up slowly, Miguel picked up the guitar and began playing Coco’s song, briefly going back in time to the cenote, as he listened to Héctor sing.

 


	10. Revelation Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miguel reveals who Héctor is and a problem is encountered with the guitar.....

**Turning Tables Chapter 10**

**Warning: minor bad language in Spanish up ahead.**

As the song slowly came to a halt, Elena did a double take, holding up the photo (which had been repaired while the children were at school and refitted with a temporary frame) and comparing it to other members of the living family. Sure enough, there were several physical similarities between Héctor, Miguel, and even Enrique.

No doubt about it, this Héctor was her grandfather through and through. 

“You play just like him mijo,” Coco said softly as she ran her fingers through Miguel’s hair. “Mi papá always loved to play that guitar. I always hoped that I would hear it being played again.”

Sniffling as tears came to his eyes, Miguel said quietly “I’m sorry that he couldn’t come home for you, Mamá Coco. He shouldn’t have been prevented from coming home just because he missed you and Mamá Imelda.” 

At that point, Coco reached up to wipe away Miguel’s tears and quietly turned her head to address the rest of the family, some of who were looking on the verge of tears themselves. “It’s okay, mijo. I’m not upset with him for not coming home—somehow I always knew that something bad happened to him and that he tried his best to come home but couldn’t.”

Suddenly, a loud knock at the door sounded, jolting everyone out of the touching moment as Enrique went to go answer it. Loud arguing was soon heard, causing everyone to look towards the doorway in concern. 

When Enrique came back fifteen minutes later, he looked distracted and worried, clearly something on his mind. Luisa caught his eye, but Enrique subtly shook his head, indicating that this was something that would need to be talked about later. 

“Estas bien, Papá?” Miguel asked as he watched his father take his seat at the table again.

“Sí, mijo.” Enrique answered as he squeezed his wife’s shoulder. “It was just a customer complaining about the fact that we were closed.”

Judging by Enrique’s behavior, Elena knew that this was no customer but decided against asking about it, knowing that whoever it was, it shouldn’t be discussed in front of Miguel.

After waiting a minute to let everyone get settled down, Miguel began talking again, clearly focused on finishing the story, albeit a bit worried.

“Héctor told me that he was a sorry excuse for a relative, but I told him no and told him I liked having him as a great-great-grandfather,” Miguel said, holding in the temptation to let out an excited grito due to the fact that Manny and Benny were both asleep in the next room.

“My papá siempre se preocupó por su familia.” Coco murmured softly as she watched her great-grandson tell his story with excitement in her warm brown eyes. Going over to stand next to her mother, Elena gestured for her grandson to continue the story, curious about what had happened.

“Eventually, Dante and Mamá Imelda arrived with Pepita to get us out of the cenote. But Mamá Imelda wasn’t very happy to see Héctor at all and made him ride on Pepita’s tail when she flew us out.”

Taking a breath to go put away the guitar in a nearby corner, Miguel continued with the story, feeling embolden by his family’s acceptance of Héctor.

“We arrived back at a rooftop of a nearby building and we met up with everyone else. At first, Mamá Imelda thought that Héctor was the reason that I was stuck in the cenote,” Miguel said quietly. Turning to look at Coco, Miguel went over to her. “But I told her about what happened and that Héctor had tried to come home but couldn’t because of that maldito bastardo.” 

At those words, Coco nodded slowly, accepting that what had happened to her father was out of his control. Enrique and Elena had both gone pale by that point, not even bothering to scold Miguel for his bad language.

“When Héctor began shimmering again, Mamá Imelda agreed to help him get to de la Cruz, so we could get the photo back and help Mamá Coco remember her papá. We wound up going back to the Arts District and we met up with Frida Kahlo.”

Choking on the water he was drinking, Abel began coughing as he spoke “Frida Kahlo? As in the artist?”

Miguel affirmed his primo’s words with a nod as he continued his narrative, albeit holding back an exhausted yawn “Sí, primo. Héctor and I had met her earlier while she was preparing for the Sunrise Spectacular, so she automatically agreed to help us sneak into the show disguised as dancers for her number. Apparently, she and de la Cruz had worked together before and she didn’t know about who he really was. Nor did anyone else.”

Looking over to his parents, Miguel quietly asked if he could continue the story later. Nodding, Elena walked over and peppered him with kisses before sending him off to bed. The rest of the family sat around at the table, in shock about what they had learned that night. Luisa looked over to her husband, who had gone quiet.

“It wasn’t a customer, was it?” Luisa asked, suspicion growing. “Who was at the door earlier?”

Sighing, Enrique knew that there was no sense in beating about the bush when it came to his wife. Especially when it came to Miguel. Pushing back any frustrated tears, he flatly answered “Apparently, the owner of de la Cruz’s crypt found out about the guitar going missing. They want to press charges against Miguel for theft and vandalism unless he gives the guitar back.”

Standing up in anger, Elena slammed her hands on the table, causing everyone to jump. “Our Miguelito is 12-years old! He is no vandal! We have the letters as well as the photo with the guitar in it! What more proof could they need to show that guitar belongs to us!”

“Mamá! Por favor calmate! We don’t want to wake up Miguel and alarm him!” Berto said, trying to calm his mother down as she raged. Eventually she sat down, frustrated.  

“We need to find proof that these letters are actually from Papá Héctor, Lena.” Said Franco, as he tried to understand the situation. “None of us have any trouble believing that they are. I’m not saying that I don’t believe Miguel at all, but we need to find proof that the letters are authentic as well as prove that the guitar is Papá Héctor’s.”

“The town knows us as the Rivera family who hates music,” Luisa said softly as she took in the situation. “To have a priceless heirloom guitar that belongs to a famous músico show up here at the home of a known music-hating family? We need to prove to the town that the ban is over.”


	11. Finding Proof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miguel finishes his story, but there is one problem left: finding proof.

Enrique felt overwhelmed as everyone else trudged off to bed, clearly still wondering about how to find proof about de la Cruz, the letters, everything. Nothing could be left out if the town wanted proof.

As Enrique got himself ready for bed that night, he kept thinking back to Dia de Los Muertos and kept wondering what he should have done. Earlier, he felt like he had to stay strong for his family. But now, in the safety of his and Luisa's bedroom, it felt okay to let the wall tumble down.

"Mi amor," came Luisa's sleepy voice as she turned to face her husband. "What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Enrique turned to face her, his face illuminated by the moon, which showed the shine on his cheeks. Something that alarmed Luisa as she didn't like to see either of her boys in any type of pain or upset.

"I just keep thinking over that day in my head. What might have happened if Miguel never ran off or if he never took the guitar from the crypt. Or if Mamá hadn't destroyed his guitar. I could have stopped it from happening."

Touching his arm lightly, Luisa scooted as close as her bulging stomach allowed. "Don't think about it like that, Quique. Miguel holds no grudges against you or Mamá Elena. And neither do I."

At that, Enrique buried his head in his hands as Luisa gently put her hand on his shoulder, the week's events beginning to take its toll. "No llores, amor," Luisa said softly as she felt her husband shake in her arms. "It's okay."

"How are we going to prove to the town that the ban is over?" came Enrique's muffled voice. "We have to do this. Not only for Miguel, but for Papá Héctor as well."

"Showing them the ban is over may be difícil, amor," Luisa said as she laid back down on the bed, gently caressing her baby bump. "But I have faith that it won't be a problem."

"But what about Miguel?" Enrique asked, now calm as he sat up. "I know that he and Rosa have been having trouble at school since the ban was lifted. And everyone else in town is afraid that Mamá will change her mind and reinstate the ban."

* * *

Enrique's words proved to be accurate. As four days went by, no one knew how to approach the Riveras about the guitar or even the ban itself out of fear of the family's matriarch. Anyone who attempted to question Miguel about what had happened on Dia de Los Muertos was chased off the property by Elena and her fearsome chancla. Even the owner of de la Cruz's crypt wasn't spared from Elena's fierce threats to leave her nieto alone, despite his continued threat of police involvement unless Miguel returned the guitar.

On day number five, Miguel had been preparing himself to continue his story, knowing fully well that certain members of the family would not take parts of it very well. He had been avoiding questions about what had happened at the concert, arising suspicion from the entire family. Especially the part about him being thrown off a tall building. Again.

Bucking up his courage, Miguel announced that he was ready to tell them the rest. Sitting down in his designated chair, he began to talk but quickly stole a look at his parents, remembering how close he had come to almost dying and how upset his parents had been.

"On the way to the festival, Mamá Imelda was very adamant about not talking to Héctor. At one point she began crying, but I think it was the stress of everything going on that was affecting her. But as soon as we got to the stage, she stood up straight and looked as strong as ever. It was like the meltdown didn't happened"

Coco and Elena both nodded in agreement with Miguel's words while everyone else looked shocked. Both women remembered how Imelda never showed too much emotion in front of anyone. On the extremely rare occasions that Imelda did get upset or cry over something, it was most likely behind closed doors where no one could see.

"After the show began, we managed to get backstage and we all agreed on the plan: find the photo de la Cruz took from Héctor and send me home."

Smirking slightly as he remembered the next bit, Miguel kept going, "When we finally located de la Cruz, Mamá Imelda hit him with her boot and screamed at him for murdering 'the love of her life'. We all started chasing after de la Cruz and eventually we had to fight his security guards in order to get to the photo. Mamá Imelda wound up onstage instead of de la Cruz with Héctor's photo!"

At that, everyone's eyes went big with amazement. After a minute of silence, Gloria quickly asked "Mijo, what did she do? Did she try to get offstage at all?"

Shaking his head, Miguel affirmed her answer "No, Tía Gloria. de la Cruz's security guards were going after her and she was stuck onstage in front of a HUGE audience. So, she began to sing. Y ella era increíble."

As the family took in Miguel's words, they almost couldn't believe it. No one (except for Coco) had ever heard Imelda sing before.

"Primo," Rosa asked as she stood up to face him. "What happened after the performance? To de la Cruz?"

Deciding not to tell anyone about being tossed over the balcony, Miguel instead told a white lie, "de la Cruz ambushed me right after the performance," Miguel answered, much to everyone's horror. "He tossed me aside and threw Héctor's photo over the edge. Luckily the audience overheard him admit to murdering Héctor and stealing his songs. They turned against him and Pepita made sure to toss him outside the theatre where he got crushed by a bell."

"Mijo," Coco's concerned voice sounded as she squeezed Miguel's hand. "Qué le pasó a mi papá? Was he alright?"

Shaking his head softly, Miguel quietly said "I don't know, Mamá Coco. He was on the verge of the Final Death when I was sent back."

Before everyone left to go to bed for the night, Elena pulled Miguel aside. She knew that her grandson was not telling the full story about what happened at that performance and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. "You know you can tell me anything, Miguelito. Is there anything that you're afraid of telling us?"

Sighing as she brushed a hand through his hand Miguel replied, "I did tell you everything, Abuelita, lo juro," Meeting her concerned eyes, Miguel started speaking faster. "But I'm scared. What if the town thinks I'm loco? What if we can't find proof? What if I was too late to—"

At that, Elena smothered him in a hug, quickly cutting off anything else that Miguel said as she held him, tears saturating her dress.

"No one will think you're loco, Miguelito. I promise. And we will find proof. If anyone tries to give you trouble, tu familia will protect you no matter what."

"I know, Abuelita. But I'm worried about Héctor. I don't know if I made it back in time to save him."


	12. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Miguel's busy worrying about getting proof in the Land of the Living, what's happening in the Land of the Dead when Héctor wakes up from his near Final Death experience?

**Turning Tables Chapter 12**

**Just wanted to rewrite it.Thank you to all my faithful readers! Your support is awesome! Stay tuned for more updates!**

_Death sure has a funny way of_ _treating you._ As Héctor Rivera opened his eyes, he was thrown off guard. The well-coordinated bed, lamp and dresser indicated that he was no longer in his slum house in Shantytown. Hell, he wasn’t even onstage at the Sunrise Spectacular suffering from the Final Death. Nope, he was at someone’s house and in a bedroom that he didn’t recognize.

At first, he thought he was at Frida Kahlo’s, but he quickly remembered that she lived in an unusual art museum that looked more like _una casa encantada_. And it couldn’t be Ceci. Ceci wouldn’t trust him to stay with her at all. Not since Héctor accidentally caused a drunken fight between himself and the other musicians a few years ago that nearly destroyed her apartment.

There was no way that this house was in the Arts District. It was too proper and neat. Nothing in the room was too extravagant, which suited Héctor’s simplistic personality. The years spent in Shantytown had taught him to not overindulge in useless luxuries that would only be thrown away.                                                                                                   

Upon hearing a soft moan coming from his right, Héctor slowly looked over to see Imelda, sound asleep in a chair with her hand tangled in the blankets. Nope, definitely not a messy artist’s house and this was probably Imelda’s bedroom, judging by the photos of the family on her night stand.

“She must have been watching over me as I slept,” Héctor thought out loud, immediately slapping a hand over his mouth out of fear of speaking too loudly. Lucky for him, Imelda didn’t even stir. 

As she shifted in her sleep, Héctor hobbled quietly to the doorway of the room, stopping only to put a blanket over Imelda as she slept, not wanting to risk moving her. Imelda was never a sound sleeper, so she must have been absolutely exhausted. While the dead didn’t need sleep, it was the idea of simply waking up refreshed that they appreciated.

Just as Héctor was going to try to stand up again (having fallen to the floor from overexertion), Rosita walked in, carrying breakfast. Noticing Héctor trying to get up to leave, she motioned for him to sit down. Héctor was about to protest, but one “mama bear” look from Rosita told him to stay put and he sat back down.

“Buenos tardes,” Rosita whispered cheerily as she could, stopping to give Héctor one of her famous hugs. Out of all the Riveras, Rosita was the friendliest and never had a bad word to say about anyone. She was also the most forgiving and, other than Coco’s girls, the only one who could keep Imelda’s temper at bay.

“Buenos TARDES?” Héctor nearly shouted in alarm before Rosita covered his mouth with her hand and shushed him. “Dios mio. How long have I been asleep?”

Quickly stealing a glance over to the sleeping matriarch, Rosita whispered “Two weeks, Héctor.You’ve been sleeping on and off since Dia de Los Muertos.”

Running his hand through his messy black hair, Héctor suddenly remembered everything that happened on Dia de Los Muertos; meeting his great-great-grandson, finding out that he was murdered by his best friend, and watching his estranged wife sing on live television in front of thousands, and nearly succumbing to the Final Death. It had been a crazy evening for everyone involved, but for Héctor one person stuck out in his mind.

“Miguel? Is he alright?” Héctor whispered frantically. “Oh dios, he made it back in time? He helped my Coco remember me?”                                                                                   

Nodding emphatically, Rosita responded, “Sí. She remembered you just in time. It was a very close call.”

Sighing in relief, Héctor sagged back against the chair he was sitting in, his eyes closing. Rosita smiled softly then pointed to the tray that she left on the chair.

“Please try and eat something, Papá Héctor,” Rosita said, “It will help a lot and if you’re up to it, you can come downstairs.”

Nodding, Héctor smiled back, albeit nervously, knowing that most of the family (save the twins) didn’t know him that well. After Imelda had arrived in the Land of the Dead, she decreed that no one from her family was to seek Héctor out in any way or attempt to contact him. And Héctor knew not to seek her out in any way, especially since Imelda had Pepita to guard the house. 

Catching on to her father-in-law’s anxiety, Rosita laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered to him, “We all want to meet you, Papá Héctor. And everyone is going to be very relieved that you’re going to be ok. Especially Mamá Imelda. She hasn’t left your side.” 

Sneaking a look at Imelda, Héctor quietly said, “I think I’ll come down in a little bit, Rosita.”

Rosita inclined her head and quietly left the room, leaving Héctor and Imelda alone. Héctor slowly began to eat some of the breakfast, saving a bit for Imelda when she woke up. At one point, Pepita came in and upon seeing Héctor, she growled at him as if to say, ‘ _Don’t try anything stupid.’_

Upon closer look at Imelda, Héctor noticed that there were dried tears on her cheekbones and she was holding something tight in her left hand. If Héctor had to venture a guess, it was probably her wedding ring. Holding back the urge to cry, Héctor was reminded how upset he felt when he woke up in the Land of the Dead without his wedding ring. Now, he sadly realized that Ernesto had probably taken it and pawned it at some seedy shop in México City.

“Gracias a Dios que estás despierto, Héctor.”

Jumping slightly before nearly collapsing on the floor, Héctor turned to the left and saw that Imelda was now fully awake and had sat up from her chair, wincing slightly as she turned to face him. Silently, Héctor sat himself down on the bed and watched as Imelda put her rebozo around her shoulders.

“Coco remembered me just in time, mi am—Imelda. And Miguel’s going to do everything he can to make sure I’m remembered.” 

Nodding solemnly, Imelda headed for the door, stopping once to grab her hair ribbons and purple dress. At one point, Héctor thought he saw tears in her eyes, but she quietly blinked them away as she turned towards the door again.

“Miguel is a good boy,” Imelda murmured softly. “He’ll do everything he can to insure your memory.”

“No tengo dudas, Imelda,” Héctor asked as he walked to the door, joining Imelda. “I don’t want to push you into anything or make you uncomfortable, all I want is for everyone to be happy. I--”

At those words, Imelda let out a huff and pulled Héctor close to her in a tight hug, tears saturating his vest. At one point, Héctor thought that he heard someone coming up the stairs, but he couldn’t have cared less as he held his distressed wife.

After a few minutes, they parted, and Imelda smoothed out her dress. Turning towards the door, she looked down and said, “It’s going to take time for me to trust you completely, Héctor. We can’t simply erase what happened in the past.”

By that point, other members of the family had approached the room, curious to see what was going on. “I agree with you, Imelda,” Héctor said softly. “We can’t simply pretend that the past didn’t happen. And it is going to take time to heal from that past.”

“Sí,” Imelda said softly, taking her husband’s hand. “But for right now we need to focus on the future. We need to let Miguel know that you’re alright and let the family know that the ban is over in both worlds.”

 

**Spanish Translations**

una casa encantada—haunted house

Gracias a Dios que estás despierto—thank God you’re awake

No tengo dudas—I have no doubts


	13. Paper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dead Riveras think of a creative way to contact Miguel

Héctor trudged downstairs slowly as Imelda supported him, not willing to let him walk on his own. Photos of both the living and dead Riveras decorated the walls, showing that Imelda truly believed in keeping the family together in life and death. Something that Héctor was left out of thanks to a simple glass of poisoned tequila. 

Stealing a glance at his wife, Héctor noticed that she was unusually silent, a stark contrast to her normal abrasiveness. At one-point Héctor thought about asking her what was wrong but didn’t want to risk Imelda’s rage or another bout of melancholy. Judging by her emotional breakdown earlier in the guest room, Imelda had been through a lot over the past two weeks. It would take a lot of time before she could fully trust him again.

Keeping these thoughts in mind, Héctor headed with Imelda to a small family room where the rest of the family had gathered, anxious to hear about Héctor’s well-being as he sat down next to Julio. Rolling her eyes slightly, Imelda gently pulled him out of his chair and had him sit down next to her.                                                            

After a long pause, Imelda spoke again, her voice slightly scratchy as she addressed the family. “I think we can all assume that Miguel successfully helped Coco remember you, Héctor. But it is going to take some time before you regain full strength and we also need to find some way to contact Miguel to let him know you didn’t fade.” 

“Imelda,” Héctor said as he addressed his wife. “Can’t we have Dante carry a message? Or we can use those new technology thingies that they have at the Department of Family Reunions. I think they’re called emails.” 

Shaking her head, Imelda adamantly replied, “We can’t rely on those devil boxes to send a message to our grandson!” Taking a deep breath and then lowering her voice as Héctor gently touched her forearm, “And we can’t have Dante going back and forth between worlds all the time. It would wear him out and there is no way that Elena would allow a stray dog into the workshop.”                                                                                   

“And we can’t write a message with ink, the ink would fade, and no one would be able to read it,” Victoria said in a clipped voice, slightly shocking Héctor with her tone. “We will need something that would work in both the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead.”

Stealing a glance over to unused papel picados that the twins had laid out two weeks prior, Rosita said, “What about those? We can use scissors and cut a message onto it. Dante would only have to deliver one message and it wouldn’t look suspicious to Elena.”

“That could work,” Julio said as he picked up a papel and handed it to Héctor. “We could cut something like ‘Estoy bien, Miguel’ on it.” 

Stifling an exhausted yawn, Héctor picked up the piece of paper and suddenly had an idea. “What about putting ‘Estoy bien, chamaco’ instead. That way Miguel will know it’s definitely me. It was my nickname for him.”

At those words, everyone nodded in agreement, but Victoria stayed quiet and distracted as her family spoke animatedly. Something that Julio noticed as he walked over to her, gently grasping her hand in his. “Vicita, estás bien?” 

Nodding slowly, Victoria turned to face the family, her face unemotional and passive. But to the family, who knew Victoria well, it was clear that she was worried or upset about something.

“Sí, Papá,” she said in her usual no-nonsense tone. “But do you think that our living family will believe Miguel or Mamá about what happened to Pap--Héctor? And about what happened on Dia de los Muertos?” 

Victoria’s words shook everyone, but none more so than Julio who knew his daughter better than anyone. Before and after she had died, Victoria had always been vocal about making sure that fairness was something that was valued in the family.

Grasping his daughter’s hands, Julio sat her down on a nearby chair as the rest of the family watched. “Vicita, I don’t think we’ll have anything to worry about. Miguel ensured that your abuelo’s memory will last.”

“Besides, Victoria,” Héctor said quietly, not wanting to call his granddaughter a pet name until she was comfortable around him. “I have a feeling that our family will believe Miguel about what happened on Dia de los Muertos. I just know it.”

With those last two words, Héctor shakily stood up and nearly nosedived into the ground, being saved at the last minute by both Felipe and Oscar, who caught him.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Imelda walked over to her exhausted husband and looked him in the eye. “Héctor, basta! You’re very tired and you need your rest. Oscar, Felipe, can you help Héctor to the guest room?”

Héctor went to question it, but he knew from the look in Imelda’s eye that she would hear no arguments. And judging from her brothers’ look as they climbed up the stairs, moving into his wife’s room after decades of no contact was not going to happen. Imelda would need time to process everything and deal with having Héctor back in her life.

Just before Oscar and Felipe left Héctor in his room, they both shot him a look as they put him down on the bed.

“Hurt our sister—” Felipe said. 

“And you’ll be dealing with—” Oscar added.                     

“Us or—”

“Back in Shantytown. Claro?” They both finished with a glare.

Gulping nervously, Héctor replied “Sí. Claro como el cristal.”


	14. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imelda deals with the emotional aftermath of what had happened on Día de los Muertos.

**Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! Wow, wow, wow! Can't believe I made it to 14 chapters! Hope you guys enjoy!**

Oscar and Felipe walked back downstairs, feeling determined but satisfied. Ever since their parents had disowned Imelda for marrying Héctor, they had been the ones to help their older sister. And to a certain extent, protect her. When Héctor first tried approaching the twins and their sister in the Land of the Dead, the twins had coldly rebuffed him while Imelda screamed at him to stay away.

But now, as Héctor slept upstairs in the guest room, Oscar and Felipe quickly realized that they would have to try everything they could to put this family on the healing path. Despite all the bad things that Imelda had said about her husband, it was evident she still loved him. And as for her brothers, it was their job to make sure that Imelda was happy and protected.

"We should go—" Felipe said quietly looking at his twin.

"And check on Imelda." Oscar finished, sharing the same look of concern. "She's probably-."

"Exhausted." They finished as they headed into the sitting room where the rest of the family waited on pins and needles. Imelda was pacing around the room, anxious as she waited for her brothers to sit down.

"Hermana," Felipe said softly. At those words, Imelda slowly turned around and for the first time in two weeks, the family saw just how exhausted she was. Her normally neat plaited bun had strands of hair falling out and her dress was wrinkled. If she had been a living woman, there was no doubt that there would have been bags under her eyes.

Ever since Héctor nearly went through the Final Death, Imelda had taken over his care, not sleeping or eating for days or letting anyone else take care of him. At one point, Julio and the twins had offered to help in order to give Imelda some respite, but they had been chased out of the room.

Imelda was quite determined to not let anyone near her husband while he was recovering, except for Rosita, who was bringing in meals and fresh clothes, and Victoria, who wasn't entirely sure how she could help but wanted to support her abuelita.

As Victoria attempted to help Imelda sit down in her designated chair, she waved her hand away. "I'm fine, Victoria," she said firmly. "I'm fine." But her eyes said otherwise as they shone with fatigue and tears. Although no one would ever tell her, Imelda had cried more over the past two weeks than she ever had while she was alive. There was no doubt that she was deeply shaken by what had happened on Dia de los Muertos and what could have happened to her husband and grandson.

"You need to sleep, Mamá Imelda." Julio said as he gingerly walked over to his mother-in-law, clearly afraid of setting off her temper. But Imelda, clearly very tired, said nothing as he squeezed her hands.

"Julio's right, Mamá Imelda," Rosita said as she sat next to Imelda. You haven't had a break in over two weeks. Please rest and let us help you. Miguel's a smart boy and I know that he won't let Héctor be forgotten by anyone."

At those words, Imelda sighed softly while glancing upstairs. Rosita was right in more ways than one and from the looks of things, Héctor wasn't going to be forgotten anytime soon. Miguel had made it back to the Land of the Living just in time and he would ensure that Héctor would be remembered for generations to come.

"Lo sé, Rosita," Imelda said in an unusually soft voice as everyone looked up in shock. "But I turned him away for nearly ninety years. That's never going to happen again."

With that, Imelda quietly left the room, her eyes shining with tears. Julio and Victoria made to get up, but Rosita stopped them. "I think we need to let her have some space right now. I'll check on her in a bit. But we shouldn't interfere with her and Héctor in any way." Nodding, Victoria and Julio sat back down on the couch, Victoria looking slightly reluctant and defensive. Something that didn't surprise Rosita or Julio in the slightest.

Victoria was very protective of her grandmother and the two shared a bond like no other. For Victoria to see someone who hurt her grandmother reappear into her life would be hard to accept. It would take some time.

"For right now, we need to let Miguel handle it." said Felipe as he watched Imelda head for her study.

"We'll still go ahead-" added Oscar

"And send him the message." Felipe said.

"To let him know that Héctor's going to be okay—." Oscar added in with a solemn look as he stole a glance at his sister, who remained silent as her brothers.

"But it's up to Miguel now." the twins finished in sync, standing up as they looked towards the rest of the family.

Nodding, everyone stood up to head off to bed, Rosita making a slight detour as she went to the study to check on Imelda. She was fast asleep at her desk, her skull dangerously close to falling off and covered with watermarks. _She looks even more exhausted than Héctor does._ Rosita thought as she took in Imelda's haggard appearance.

Sighing softly, Rosita gently picked up the sleeping matriarch and carried her up to her bedroom, Julio following along to help.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help Miguel, hermano?" Rosita whispered as they got to Imelda's bedroom door.

Shaking his head, Julio replied "There's nothing more than we can do since we can't go to the Land of the Living ourselves. I hope this papel message works."

As soon as they put Imelda down on the bed, Rosita shooed Julio out of the room as she exchanged Imelda's purple dress for a nightgown and undid her long black hair, letting it tumble down her back. Afterwards, Rosita stood back and covered Imelda with a blanket, heading for the balcony as she looked out at the bright lights of the city. There was a brief moment of contemplation before she spoke.

"Por favor Dios. Please help Miguel and keep him safe. Get our message to him. He needs our support now more than ever. It's going to be tough, but he needs his family right now."


	15. The Fight Heard Round the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on the search to prove Héctor's relation to the family, things aren't going well for the Living Riveras. Especially for Rosa and Miguel.

**Turning Tables Chapter 15**

Luisa laid back on the bed patiently as the local doctor examined her eight-and-a-half-month pregnant belly, Elena and Enrique looking on. It was a Rivera tradition that every new baby would be born at the hacienda, something that Mamá Imelda had started all those years ago with the birth of Coco.

“Your baby is growing very nicely, Señora Rivera,” the doctor said. “But your blood pressure is still a bit high like it was with your previous pregnancy. I would recommend taking it easy for now until the baby’s born. I’m afraid that means bed rest.”

Nodding, Luisa quietly sat up against her pillows, enjoying the quiet until a loud slam startled her from her reverie. Sighing softly as he escorted the doctor out, Enrique headed for the hallway while Elena stayed behind to chat with her daughter-in-law.

“Hope it wasn’t another bad day at school,” Elena murmured as she helped Luisa sit up. “Miguelito has been through enough of those already. And he won’t even go to the Plaza anymore.”

Luisa nodded as she remembered how Miguel had sworn not to go to the Plaza until de la Cruz’s statue had been removed. And to make matters worse, the owner of de la Cruz’s crypt, Santiago Lopez, threatened to have Miguel arrested every time he went to the Plaza.

Even the mariachis were afraid of approaching Miguel, mostly out of fear of being attacked by his abuelita or Lopez’s henchmen. That was something that Elena had tried to apologize for but with little to no luck. Many of the mariachis were still very angry about how Elena had treated them and Miguel. Elena hoped with Los Posadas coming up (as well as the inclusion of music for the holiday), things would change for the better.

“I’m sure that once we hear back from that investigator in México City, things will start to turn around.” Luisa said, trying to keep positive. “And Abel is doing everything he can at school to look up more information about de la Cruz’s early years.”

“But we can’t just go around and tell people what happened to Miguel on Dia de los Muertos, mija or where he went,” Elena commented. “No one will believe him.”

Overwhelmed with these thoughts, Luisa attempted to sit up again but Elena stopped her. “You heard the doctor, Luisita. You can’t go overexerting yourself again like you did when you were pregnant with Miguel.”

Huffing slightly, Luisa laid back against the pillows, the strain of her pregnancy taking its toll on her exhausted mind as she drifted off to sleep. Elena watched her sleep for a few moments and then quietly went off towards the hallway. She and Gloria had been taking over for Luisa in the workshop for the last couple weeks, working double time to get orders ready for Los Posadas.

Catching up with his mother as she walked back to the living room, Enrique quietly approached her and pulled her off to the side. “Apparently, the owner of the crypt came to the school and had both Miguel and Rosa pulled out of class. Again. And didn’t even call to let us know.” Enrique said with poorly disguised anger in his voice.

Elena nearly shouted in anger but quickly lowered her voice upon her son’s urging. “Ay, not again,” she groaned, remembering how this had happened the previous week and involved her having to go down to the school to bring both her grandchildren back home. “I just don’t understand it! Berto wrote an investigator in México City two weeks ago and has heard NADA! Our local police won’t do ANYTHING to protect our boy because they love that de la Cruz!”

“Mamá, calmése por favor!” Enrique began as his eyes fleeted back and forth from the door to her. “These things take time. Ernesto de la Cruz was—was one of México’s gre—most famous musicians of all time.” Frowning slightly at her son’s word choice, Elena gestured for him to continue. 

Taking a deep breath, Enrique added in a lowered voice “Many people love and admire him. We can’t just convince them overnight that he did something bad. These things take time. The investigator will write back. Soon. Gloria has been looking into ways to prove that Héctor did go to México City with de la Cruz by researching train tickets.”

Grasping his mother’s hands, Enrique looked her in the eye and continued “I’ll be going there with Papá and Berto next week to pick up supplies. We can stop by the records office and visit the investigator ourselves if we don’t hear anything by the end of this week. And Abuelita did say that Mamá Imelda and Papá Héctor eloped in México City so maybe we could locate a marriage license record or something.” 

Defeated, Elena nodded softly as she and Enrique walked towards the living room. Raised voices were heard and it became clear to Elena that Rosa and Miguel were fighting again. This had become a regular pastime, especially since the two were having difficulties in school and with their friends, who were skeptical to believe that the ban was over. And this time, it sounded like this day in school was probably the worst one yet for 13-year old Rosa.

“NO ONE WANTS TO TALK TO ME ANYMORE! I CAN’T EVEN GO TO SCHOOL WITHOUT GETTING PULLED OUT OF CLASS ABOUT THIS! _I WISH YOU’RE WEREN’T RELATED TO ME! **I WISH YOU JUST STAYED IN THE LAND OF THE DEAD**!” _ Rosa yelled, causing Elena to go numb with disbelief. While her eldest granddaughter was known to have an occasionally explosive temper, Rosa would normally never say harsh things like this. What had happened in school must have pushed Rosa over the edge.  

“Rosita! Miguel!” yelled Carmen and Berto who were desperately trying to defuse the situation. “¡Basta!" 

“MAYBE YOU’RE RIGHT!” Elena heard Miguel scream at Rosa “Maybe I should have let de la Cruz kill me! He nearly did at the Sunrise Spectacular when **_he threw me off the roof_**! WOULD THAT HAVE MADE YOU HAPPY?””

Shocked, both Enrique and Elena looked at each other then eyed the bedroom door. _I hope Luisa didn’t hear that bit,_ Enrique thought to himself but judging by the gut-wrenching wails they suddenly heard coming from the bedroom, Luisa had overheard every word that Miguel had said. _Oh no._  

Holding back tears of shock, Enrique and Elena walked into the living room, where Gloria, Carmen, and Berto gathered, shaken by what had happened. Elena quickly spotted her two upset grandchildren, who were glaring daggers at each other.

“Carmen,” Elena quietly said, while taking deep breaths to control her temper and control the situation. “Take Rosa to her room to calm down. Berto, can you go let Papá and Abel know what’s going on? They’re in the workshop”

With a “Sí, Mamá” the adults and Rosa quietly left the room with the exception of Enrique who had whispered to his mamá that he was going to go check on Luisa. Miguel looked hurt and scared, clearly worried about what was going to happen next. At one-point Miguel tried to run off but one glare from Elena had him sitting down on the couch. Whether he liked it or not, it was time to tell the truth of what actually happened at that performance.

 

 

 


	16. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miguel finally tells the truth of the aftermath of the performance and the family finds out why Rosa said what she said.

**Turning Tables Chapter 16**

**Hey guys! Hope everyone is doing good. A huge thank you to my friend Halloween Foxface for beta reading this chapter. Here's a note from her:**

**Hello everyone I am very proud to announce that I shall be beta reading for the amazing author here. I do hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter she made, I believe she is taking this story in a wonderful direction and I can't wait to take this journey with you all. Thank you for your time and enjoy the story!**

Elena turned to face Miguel, his eyes full of anguish as he eyed the doorway anxiously.

He didn't want to say anything about what had happened at that concert. The terror and fear he felt that night seemed to have a hold over him.

Miguel had nearly died, not by the curse when he stole the guitar, but nearly plummeted to his death, the mere thought of it sent shivers down his spine. The urge to run far away and leave the memory behind seemed to course through him. But running was something little kids did, and Miguel was only two months away from turning thirteen.

Taking a deep breath Miguel shut the conflicting emotions and deep rooted terror into the back of his mind. No more running. No beating about the bush. His family deserved to know what had really happened at that concert.

Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Elena addressed her grandson in an unusually calm and steady voice. "Miguel, what really happened at the concert?"

Shakily, Miguel looked down at the floor, the hatred in Del la Cruz's eyes seemed to flash in his mind, he met his abuelita's concerned eyes. His response came out in a small whisper just barely loud enough for her to hear.

"Mamá Imelda ran backstage and hugged Papá Héctor. They were about to give me their blessing when de la Cruz…" At those words, Miguel felt his tears well up. He had to be strong, he had to be strong for his family. But the tears fell regardless of his wishes.

It was clear how scared he was to tell her about what happened next. His body shook in silent horror.

Elena gently hugged him tightly, rubbing soothing circles into Miguel's back as she comforted him. Just by his reaction alone she could tell that Miguel had experienced something he never should have at that concert.

"Esta bien, nieto. Adelante." Elena said.

Miguel wiped away the tears coursing down his face and nodded, taking a shaker breath he kept going.

"He… he told me that he had to do whatever it took to seize his moment, then he threw me off the roof along with Héctor's photo."

Elena held back her horrified gasp. It was almost too much for her to handle as tears filled her eyes. But now Miguel was here and safe, he needed them now more than ever. She steeled herself and held Miguel even closer.

"Thankfully, Dante and Pepita managed to save me at the last minute but the photo… it disappeared into the river."

Silence hung heavy in the the air as Miguel's words echoed in Elena's mind. If Pepita and that silly street dog hadn't saved him, if they didn't reach him in time, then Miguel wouldn't have been able to make it home.

It was something Elena would have never forgiven herself for. Without a word, Elena simply held Miguel, she wasn't sure how long they sat together. She didn't even notice when Berto and Enrique walked in and sat down on the couch, faces etched with concern.

As soon Miguel's tears dried, he looked up at Enrique and looked a bit guiltily as he asked, "How is Mamá? I didn't mean to upset her, honest!"

"Mamá is fine, Miguel," Enrique answered softly. But there were other matters to discuss that he had to find out. He needed to know what had caused the fight between Rosa and Miguel.

"But she's very worried about you and Rosa. Especially about what had happened at school." added Enrique.

Miguel froze. He didn't want to discuss what happened between him and Rosa, their family was already dealing with so much already. But keeping secrets seemed to only make things worse.

"Okay." Miguel admitted as he looked up at his tío, papá and abuelita. "On the way home, Rosa told me that if I had never brought the guitar into the home, then things like this wouldn't be happening…. being pulled out of class by Señor Lopez, being ditched by our friends. That's what the fight was about. Lopez even said…."

At those words, Miguel froze, clearly terrified of mentioning what happened next. But Elena knew that Miguel was holding back life-or-death information that was important.

"What did he say, Miguelito?" Elena croaked out, clearly worried about what had happened and what she could do to protect her family.

Inhaling softly to steady himself, Miguel said "That he would try and take the guitar by force. He threatened to hurt our family and he didn't care about consequences. Rosa was furious and told him off, but Lopez laughed at her and called her a silly girl."

Hearing that, Carmen, whom had just re-entered the room, went pale as she went to sit down next to her nephew, a piece of paper enclosed in her right hand. Berto was livid as he sat down on the couch.

"How is Rosa, Tía Carmen?" Miguel asked his aunt sheepishly.

"She's still very upset, mijo." Carmen responded softly. "She feels very badly about the fight and what had happened at school."

"Is she going to get in trouble for what she said to me?" Miguel asked quickly. "She didn't mean it, I think. She was just upset!"

With those words, Enrique stepped forward and said "I understand, Miguel, but right now isn't a good time for either of you to try talking to each other."

Miguel looked like he wanted to protest but Enrique stopped him, "You're both upset and need to calm down. I think trying again to talk to her in the morning may be the best option."

Nodding, Miguel got up and left, leaving his family shocked and shaken.

Soon Abel and Franco had come in with Gloria, who quickly brought them up to speed on what had happened earlier. As they sat down in their designated chairs, there was a sudden hush. After a few tense minutes, the silence was broken.

Berto stood and addressed the family,. "What happened at school was probably the last straw for Rosa and she just couldn't take it." Taking his wife's hand, Berto kept going. "She needs to understand that blaming Miguel for something that's beyond his control is not okay. I think Carmen and I will have to talk to her about it later, after she's had time to calm down."

"But for right now, we have to worry about Lopez." Carmen added as she glanced around the room anxiously.

"I can't believe that Lopez would go that far," Elena angrily muttered, aware that Miguel would overhear if she shouted. "How dare he threaten mis nietos!"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Berto said "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we may need to pull Miguel and Rosa out of school until the fuss dies down. What if Lopez attempts to hurt them again?"

"Then we'll protect them," Elena said firmly. "Family comes first. But it should be up to Rosa and Miguel if they want to be pulled out of school. If we pull them out without any warning, it could make things worse."

Berto faced his mother and responded, "Before we go to México City next week, I think we might need to look into some sort of security system Mamá. Maybe ask one of the neighbors or have Dante keep watch."

Shaking her head, Elena murmured "That dog can barely stand up on his own four legs and he looks like a sausage. But I do think he would do anything to protect our family."

"But in the meantime, we must wait to hear back from the investigator," Berto said as he looked towards the doorway. "But that's all we can do for now."

"The investigator wrote back today, Berto." Carmen murmured as she handed the piece of paper over to her husband.

As he read it, everyone went silent except for Elena who cried out, "Berto, what did he say? Is he going to help us or not?"

Looking up from the letter, Berto nodded slowly. "He said that he was willing to help us, but he wants Papá, Quique, and I to meet him in México City to discuss the case when we're there next week. He said to bring the photos, letters and poems from Abuelita's papá and nos vamos de allí."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: To give an insight on to why Rosa said what she said: watch A Christmas Story and fast forward to the part where Ralphie blows up after he has a bad day at school. That's what I had in mind for the fight between Rosa and Miguel.


	17. Apologizing is Even Harder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosa learns that what she said to Miguel have consequences. Lopez goes too far in trying to get the guitar back.

The next morning, Rosa came down the stairs deep in thought as she approached the living room. She couldn't forget how they had treated her at school. The whispers behind her back, the stares, and the teasing. Even her friends, people she thought she could trust, wouldn't even go near her.

Then to top it all off, Señor Lopez had pulled her and Miguel out of class threatening them to return the guitar or it would be taken by force. Despite Rosa's angry warnings to the owner, he laughed it off and called her una tonta.

But the fight with Miguel had been the last straw for Rosa, as she guiltily remembered how she had screamed at Miguel to get out of their family and to stay in the Land of the Dead.

She still remembered how terrified Luisa looked and when she started crying. _The guilt I felt for yelling at Miguel without knowing what he had hidden from us. The frightening events Miguel experienced at that concert._ Rosa knew she definitely deserved the punishment that Mamá had given her.

Carmen had taken away her daughter's new cell phone and threatened to prohibit her from participating in the town's Los Posadas celebrations (something Rosa had been looking forward to since the music ban was lifted) unless Rosa said and wrote a sincere apology (proofread by Carmen or Elena) to both Miguel and Luisa for what she had said. At first Rosa thought that her mamá was joking, but Carmen was dead serious.

"I understand what happened at school was bad, mija." Carmen had said to her daughter once she had calmed down. "But you can't say things like that, even when you're angry—what would you have done if Miguel hadn't come home at all? Would you still have said that?"

It was a harsh lesson, but Rosa had understood instantly. What she had said to her cousin was border-line cruel and out of line. If Miguel hadn't come home, no one in the family would have forgiven themselves.

Keeping her mamá's words in mind, Rosa went downstairs to go and talk to her cousin. Everyone was out except for Luisa, Miguel, Elena, and their neighbor Guillermo Quesada. Guy Quesada had been around for years and his family had known the Riveras, even before the ban took place. When Imelda Rivera had banned music and started up the shoe shop all those years ago, Quesada's great-grandparents supported her as they would a surrogate daughter.

"We'll do what it takes to protect all of you," Quesada said as Rosa walked into the room. "Please let me know if you ever need anything."

With a quick goodbye, Quesada left the room, leaving an anxious family in his wake.

"What did he mean by that, Abuelita?" Rosa asked softly as she watched her neighbor leave.

Shaking her head, Elena quickly said, "I'll explain later, mija, when everyone gets home. But for the mean time, I think you should work on writing that apology letter to your tía and primo."

Nodding her head, Rosa immediately got to work on writing her letter while Elena went over new orders. By the time the rest of the family had come home two hours later, Rosa had finished writing her letters and, Elena having proofread them, was ready to give them to their recipients.

_Miguel y Tía Luisa,_

_I'm very sorry for what I said yesterday to you—it was completely out of line. I'm just so stressed out about everything going on--the bullying at school and with Lopez threatening our family that I lost my temper. Lo siento mucho and I hope that we can move forward to proving that the guitar is ours. Riveras stick together._

_Rosa_

Dinner that night was a quiet affair, no one saying a word. The air was tense, everyone could sense something serious had happened yet no one had come forward to explain just what it was.

Before the children had come into the room, Elena brought everyone up to date on what happened at school. The fact that Lopez was going as far as to threaten Miguel and Rosa at school was too far. Practically everyone was up in arms wanting to give Lopez a piece of their mind but to do so would only make matters worse.

After asking Carmen to take the twins out of the room, Elena stood up to address the rest of the family. She spoke very seriously and her stance seemed to shake with a quivering fear but steeled herself with determination, addressing her familia with a calm but serious tone.

"I don't know how far Lopez is planning to go or if he meant what he said in his threat," she said, an edge of worry in her voice. Addressing her grandchildren Elena added, "But if he ever tries to come here when you're home alone or anything, you run and fetch Señor Quesada or one of us. Entiendes?"

* * *

The next morning, Miguel came down the stairs first and coming face to face with Rosa, looking very worried and scared. Taking a deep breath, Rosa spoke first as she looked at her cousin's equally worried face.

"Primo," Rosa said in her typical no-nonsense voice that strongly reminded Miguel of Mamá Imelda. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday after school and I hope you read my note."

With those words Rosa headed out to the kitchen, on the verge of tears as a tearful voice called back, "I read your note." Running to catch up with her, Miguel spoke "I'm sorry too, Rosa. I shouldn't have provoked you or let Lopez bug you. Family always comes first, and I should have protected you."

By that time, both Carmen and Elena had been watching the scene as they quickly realized that Miguel had not only changed in the Land of the Dead but had become a young man in the meanwhile. As they approached the two preteens, Carmen asked them if they had apologized to each other and to Luisa.

"She's sleeping right now but I'll be sure to give her the message when she wakes up," Elena said to them. "In the meantime, some of us are going out on a supply run to prepare for Los Posadas."

Cheering (after Carmen nodded yes to Rosa's silent plea to go along), both cousins headed out the door to go out to the family's van, much to the excitement of everyone who was happy to see the cousins make up.

By the time the family came back three hours later, police cars were at the hacienda, instantly sending both Elena and Enrique into a panic as they rushed into the family room. There, Luisa sat with Dante as she shook, clearly terrified as her husband asked her what happened.

"Lopez," Luisa said to the rest of the family, who had run in, fearing the worst. "He tried to come to the house and started banging on the door, demanding that we turn over the guitar." She paused for a moment to collect herself before continuing. Pointing to Dante, she added, "Dante started growling and barking outside, loud enough for Guy Quesada to hear and he chased Lopez out."

Elena took a step back as she looked at the goofy, lanky dog who had come to rest at Coco's wheelchair. Maybe this goofy dog wasn't so bad after all. Gently scratching him behind the ears, Coco murmured, "Buen perro, Dante. Gracias."

Sensing that he was being complimented, Dante sprang up and started licking both women eagerly, causing everyone to forget the troubles going on. Little did they know, the fight for the guitar was only just beginning.


	18. Emotions Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imelda's guilt over what could have happened to Miguel and Héctor is still felt full force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re going back to the Land of the Dead for the next two chapters and then we’re heading back to the Land of the Living. To give a sense of timing in the storyline, this chapter takes place about 2.5 months after Dia de los Muertos.

Héctor sat at the kitchen table, his mind deep in thought as he twirled a pen in between his finger bones. Song-writing had always come easy to him, even as a small boy growing up in Santa Cecelia. But now he was drawing blanks, not remembering what to write or how to write it. Although he would never admit it, it was safe to say that Héctor was going through severe writer's block. 

It had been Imelda's idea for him to start songwriting again, as a way of gently easing the family back into enjoying music. Much to Héctor's joy, almost everyone was on board. Victoria was still getting used to having music in her life; she was very reluctant to sing or even attempt to play an instrument, mostly to out of habit.

'Some things just take time to get used to' Héctor thought to himself, letting out a groan of defeat as he finally set down the pencil, too exhausted to write. Writing songs would have to wait for another day when he wasn't thinking about other things.

All of a sudden, loud barking caught his attention as Dante came barreling down the street, nearly running into Pepita, who was sleeping on the lawn. Héctor pushed himself away from the table and quickly ran to the door to let the hyperactive dog into the house. Meanwhile, upon hearing the hearing the loud barks that seemed to echo through the house, the rest of the family came downstairs.

"Héctor," Rosita asked, sleep evident in her voice. "Que pasó? Is it Miguel?"

"Did he get the message?" Victoria asked, readjusting her glasses. Taking a piece of paper from Dante's collar, Héctor read it aloud, his eyes nearly falling out of their sockets in shock as the rest of the family listened in eagerly.

_Dear familia,_

_I got your message earlier this past week and I'm glad Papá Héctor wasn't forgotton. Díos, I was so worried, but Mamá Coco has been remembering more and more things. Everyone believes me too, but no one outside the family knows about what happened on Dia de los Muertos and I'm not planning on telling them. Don't want anyone to think me loco._

_Things have been kind of crazy around here in the Land of the Living. Abuelita lifted the ban the day after Dia de los Muertos. The owner of de la Cruz's crypt has been threatening us and even tried to come to the hacienda when Mamá was home alone resting. It scared Papá and Abuelita half to death, but luckily one of our neighbors had offered to help keep an eye on things and chased the owner off the property. Dante has been helping out too--I think Abuelita is liking him more and more._

_~~Rosa and I got into a huge fight but we’re okay now.~~ Rosa and I have been trying to find out more about music and we even got the chance to go to music class at school._

_The whole family is on board with helping prove that you are the true songwriter, Papá Héctor. Papá, Papá Franco y Tío Berto are in México City this week, talking to an investigator about looking through records and other investigative stuff. Abuelita doesn't trust the investigator because she doesn't want Mamá Coco to get hurt. But Papá says that he seems like a genuinely nice man who doesn't want to hurt anyone._

_Hope everything is ok in the Land of the Dead._

_Miguel_

_P.S. I’m sorry it took so long to get a message back to you, Dante kept eating the paper._

After taking a moment to let everyone recover their breath, Héctor looked around the table to see if he could get a taste of the emotions that everyone was feeling. Rosita and Victoria looked worried when they saw the crossed-out section about the fight. The twins unitedly gasped in excitement, clearly very animated about the investigation.

"Mamá will do everything she can to remember you." Victoria said to Héctor.

Shakily, Imelda stood up and left the room, heading back up the stairs to bed. Taking it as it a cue to not disturb her, Rosita and the others wished Héctor goodnight and walked up the stairs to their respective rooms. Everyone, that is, except for Julio who looked very worried as he looked up towards the bedroom.

"Should I go and talk to her?" Héctor asked as he nervously eyed the stairs and Imelda's bedroom door.

"I think Mamá Imelda still blames herself for what could have happened on Dia de los Muertos and for not allowing Coco to remember you." Julio murmured, locating a bottle of mescal from the cupboard and pouring himself and Héctor a glass. Taking a small sip, he kept going. "When our girls were little, Coco got injured while dancing. Mamá Imelda made her promise to not do it again. Coco saw how frightened Vico and Lena were and promised to never listen or dance to music again."

Instantly, Héctor understood. "Is that why Elena enforced the music ban? Why she was so hard on Miguel?"

Another affirmative nod from Julio answered Héctor's questions. Hopefully with time, Elena could learn to embrace music fully, but Héctor knew that it would be a long road. If only he could talk to Elena, reassure her that everything was alright now. And to reassure Imelda that she hadn't done anything wrong in enforcing the ban; she was only doing what she thought was right. If anyone had done anything wrong, it was Ernesto.

Bidding Julio goodnight, Héctor slowly trudged up the stairs with his new cane (a gift from his son-in-law and his sister) towards guest room, pausing first to go check on Imelda. She was lying awake in bed, engrossed in reading a letter with her head bowed down.

Not wanting to startle her, Héctor was about to leave when all the sudden he heard Imelda call out "Héctor? Is everything alright?"

"Sí, Imelda. Estoy bien." Héctor answered. Taking a closer look at his wife, Héctor realized that she must have been crying again. "But what about you? Are you alright?"

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Imelda nodded, ignoring the hot tears leaking out of her eyes. "S-sí. I'm fine. I just wish…"

Without a single word, Héctor drew her close and held her, a little bit shakily as he hadn't fully recovered his strength yet. Imelda didn't say a word, but Héctor felt her shaking and heard her muffled sobs.

"Imelda," Héctor murmured into her hair as he stole a glance at the letter, eyes widening when he realized that she had been reading the very last letter he had ever written her in life. "I don't blame you for banning music, you had every right, especially with what you thought of me. If I were you, I probably would have done the same thing."

Héctor wasn't sure how long he sat there holding his beloved Imelda. It could have been a few seconds or a few hours but that wouldn't matter. Time passed quickly in the Land of the Dead. She needed comfort and that was exactly what he would give her. So many new changes and emotions must have been weighing heavily on her.

He began to hum a soft melody to himself as he felt Imelda's breath reaching a steady beat. Realizing that she had fallen asleep, Héctor gently laid back on the bed, still holding his wife as he closed his eyes, silently hoping tomorrow would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll let you guys imagine what melody that was.


	19. Emotions Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Héctor helps the youngest member of the dead Riveras come to terms with having music in her life as well as helping Imelda overcome her guilt about what happened at the concert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just a quick note—I just started my last semester as a senior in college so chapter updates may be a bit on the sporadic side.

Victoria and Rosita quietly worked at their work station, sewing together a new pair of huaraches for another customer with deft efficiency. It had been a quiet morning at the shop, as Mamá Imelda had not come downstairs yet and everyone else was out. Ever since Héctor had reappeared into Mamá Imelda's life, things had definitely changed for the whole family.

No longer forbidden from listening or singing along to music, most of the family had welcomed the change and embraced music full-heartedly. Whether it was whistling or humming along to the radio (a gift from Ceci), music had been welcomed back full force.

For Julio and Rosita, it was an exciting time for them. They had often been caught humming when the ban was active, so to have it lifted was amazing for them. Julio, especially, was very excited about it as he and Rosita had grown up with music. Having grown up in a tough orphanage outside of México City, music and caprentry was the only way to escape for the siblings. Until Coco and her mamá came along that is.

Victoria, however, found the ability to listen or even tolerate music an even longer process. Having grown up without music her entire life, Victoria often found herself accidentally turning a radio off or walking out of the room whenever music came on. But it didn't mean that Victoria hated music—it would just take some time for her to get used to it.

"Vicita," Rosita began as she put down the shoes she was working on. As Rosita looked at her niece's agitated face as Victoria's hand hovered between the radio and the shoe. "Are you okay, mija?"

"I'm trying to get used to music, Tía," Victoria admitted her aunt as she finished her pair of shoes. "En serio. It's just—"

"I know, mija," Rosita said softly. "I know it's been hard for you to accept music after a lifetime without it. It's been hard for everyone, but I know you can do it. Mi pequeñita Victoria."

With a soft smile, Victoria quietly hugged Rosita and left, feeling more conflicted than ever.

Shaking her head out of the clouds, Victoria headed up the stairs to her bedroom, which was right across the hall from her abuelita's. Before Héctor had regained consciousness, Victoria often had woken up to the sound of her grandmother in distress, knowing fully well that she had been having nightmares about what had happened on Dia de los Muertos.

Miguel's letter from last night brought hope, but for Imelda, it was a heavy reminder of what could have happened. It was something she couldn't let go. But maybe with Héctor here, things could begin to turn around. Maybe he could help Victoria listen to a world with music too.

* * *

Héctor woke up with a start, groggy and disoriented as someone knocked loudly at the door. He moved to stretch but noticed that his movements were restricted. Registering that someone was holding onto him, Héctor looked down and saw Imelda who was sleeping soundly in his arms. For a moment, Héctor almost forgot what had happened the night before, but it all came back with a vengeance.

Imelda had cried herself to sleep in his arms, feeling the weight of guilt that had been with her since Dia de los Muertos and, adding to her distress, shaken by the unfamiliar sensation of that guilt. _If the emotional breakdown two weeks after Dia de los Muertos were snow flurries,_ Héctor realized _last night's breakdown was a blizzard._

Gently moving his wife's sleeping form onto the soft pillows, Héctor stood up letting out a soft groan as he stretched his skeletal form and grabbed his hat that had fallen while he slept.

As he made his way over to the door, he made a decision to forgo the cane. Silently, he turned the knob slowly to avoid having it squeak. On the other side of the door stood Victoria, who wore a look of deep concern on her face as she glanced around the room.

"Is everything alright?" Victoria spoke softly as she stepped into the room. "It's nearly noon. She's never slept this late."

Running his hand through his hair, Héctor looked back and forth between his granddaughter and his wife, who hadn't stirred a bit.

"She had a rough night, Victoria," Héctor murmured as he brushed his wife's hair away from her eyes. "Your papá and I think she still feels guilty about what happened on Dia de los Muertos and what could have happened at that concert."

Sitting down on the bed beside her abuelito, Victoria sighed and with a passive expression whispered, "I still can't believe she sang in front of all those people. Mamá used to tell me that Mamá Imelda would sing to her before she fell asleep, but I thought that she meant little lullabies or songs."

Smiling softly as he looked down at Imelda, Héctor nodded in agreement. "She really loved to sing." Sensing that his granddaughter had something on her mind, Héctor looked up at his granddaughter and held her hands as he silently asked her what was wrong.

Taking a deep breath, Victoria quietly asked, "How do you adapt to a world with music in it? It seems like every time I hear music, I just want to shut it out," Pausing briefly, Victoria then said, "But I don't want to shut it out. I want to be able to show Mamá a world with music when she arrives and Elena too. Díos, she used to get so angry whenever music came on."

Briefly reminded of when his daughter was a young girl in need of comfort or shelter, Héctor instantly put his arm around his granddaughter.

"Listen to music in degrees, mija," Héctor said with the voice of a philosopher. "A little bit one day at a time, try listening to a new rhythm or a new dance. Do what feels right to you."

Feeling slightly better, Victoria quietly agreed to the idea and left the room, saying "Gracias, Abuelito.", causing Héctor's eyes to unexpectedly well with tears. Turning around again to face Héctor, Victoria looked towards her sleeping abuelita, saying, "She still loves you, you know. She always has loved you."

With those words, Victoria left the room, leaving a shocked Héctor in her wake. For a long moment there was silence when a sudden voice startled him. "I still do, Héctor. Very much. I'm sorry."

Turning around sharply, Héctor saw Imelda sitting up in the bed looking concerned. "Mi amor," Héctor said, feeling brave enough to use a pet name. "I know. It's okay. I've never held any grudge against you at all for ripping the photo and banning music or for what happened at the concert. You were doing what you thought best. Por Coco."

Shaking, Imelda got out of bed and headed over towards Héctor, who looked very much the part of concerned family man. With the tenderness that she thought was long forgotten, Imelda stood up on tip-toe and pressed her mouth to Héctor's, knocking his hat off his head. While he had been staying with his new family, Héctor had not felt comfortable initiating any physical contact beyond a hug out of worry that it would be pushing Imelda past her comfort zone. He still stayed in the guest room as well, knowing fully well that they hadn't gotten to that step in renewing their relationship. It had only been two and a half months after all.

The kiss lasted several minutes until Héctor felt the need to pull away and hug his wife to him, feeling her smile for the first time in weeks. For a few short moments, Héctor quietly hummed until he suddenly felt Imelda gasp and stiffen against him.

"Qué paso, mi vida?" Héctor asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried, Héctor," Imelda admitted as she curled herself into his embrace. "The concert. De la Cruz. We all need to call a family meeting to discuss what happened at that concert and figure out what to do in case he decides to get revenge on you. Pepita can only do so much and that bell won't hold him forever."

Squeezing her skeletal frame to his, Héctor let out a worried sigh. "I know, mi amor. I know. But Riveras stick together. We'll work it out as a family. We will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta note from Halloween Foxface: ohhh my goodness you guys have no idea how much I loved looking over this chapter, the romance the drama the suspense! Ahhhh I got chills and no one said Mufasa! I just wanted to thank you all for your continued support of the lovely author and myself. We greatly appreciate everyone for being patient. Ttfn!


	20. Birth of a New Generation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celebrating the birth of a new baby is always so much fun...Enrique realizes that finding where Héctor's body is may not be so simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my faithful readers! Thank you so much for your wonderful support! Hope you enjoy.

**Turning Tables Chapter 20**

Enrique sat down at the workshop table with a sigh of relief as he allowed the various papers he held onto clatter onto the table and loosened his tie. It had been a very stressful day but thankfully very hopeful. The meeting with the investigator had gone well and the Rivera men were able to leave México City with an air of success.

The notes he dropped from his arms from the investigator were strewn all over the workshop table as well as the original notebook that Mamá Coco owned with all of Héctor's poems and letters.

With the investigator's help, they were able to locate marriage records and even a train ticket receipt book to prove that Héctor Rivera bought a return ticket to Santa Cecelia on the night he supposedly died.

There were only two problems: finding the body of the musician himself in México City and the red notebook that Héctor supposedly wrote his songs in. Most of the México City burial records were destroyed in a fire many years ago and Coco was the only relative still living at that time and her memory of the red book was spotty at best. It was safe to say at the moment the Riveras had hit a dead end, but there was still a possibility they might come across something.

"Quique? What are you doing up, amor?"

Jumping slightly, Enrique turned to see Luisa waddling over to sit down on her designated chair in the workshop. Sighing softly, Enrique got up to help Luisa only to be waved away.

"What are you doing out of bed, Luisita?" Enrique asked. "You're supposed to be resting. Remember what the doctor said? No te excedas."

"Lo sé. I'm not made of glass, Quique," Luisa murmured as she caressed her pregnant stomach, stifling a groan of pain in the process. "But I do worry about you. You've been working for nearly eight hours. And Miguel looked like he wanted to work all night at the rate he was going."

Brushing his hand through his hair, Enrique sat down discouraged. "I'm not giving up on this, amor! We all owe it to Miguel y Abuelita to find out what happened the night Héctor died and where he is."

Touching his arm slightly to calm him down, Luisa spoke gently. "I know, mi vida. But you need to get some sleep before you keel over from exhaustion. This is the third night in a row you've done this and it's time for a break."

As if on cue, Elena walked into the workshop to check on Enrique and was about to tell him to take a break for the night, only to be startled to see Luisa with him as well.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked in her no-nonsense mamá voice. "It's after midnight and you," she added pointing at Enrique, "should taking a break! You've been working on this since the shop closed at 5!"

Nodding his head Enrique spoke firmly, "I know, Mamá. I'm just trying to figure out where Papá Héctor might be buried and to find out where that red notebook is. Abuelita said he always had it with him, and Señor Martinez suggested that the notebook might be buried with…" Taking a gulp, "in México City, with de la Cruz himself inside his crypt or with Lopez. Here in Santa Cecelia."

"What about de la Cruz Productions, Quique?" Luisa asked as she shakily stood up, using the table to support her. "Wouldn't they want to keep the book? To protect it from copyright infringement or from overeager fans?"

"de la Cruz listed Lopez's grandfather as his heir," Enrique murmured. "Apparently they worked together before on other projects. But the other option is that it's buried with de la Cruz himself," Squeezing his wife's hand, Enrique went on. "No one would want to steal from the grave of one of México's most famous musicians and Lopez would probably arrest anyone who would attempt to go near de la Cruz's crypt now."

Frowning slightly at her son's words, Elena immediately thought of another idea. "What about asking Miguel to get another message to our ancestors? They might be able to find something out."

Hearing a muffled moan coming from Luisa, Elena and Enrique looked over.

"Luisita?" Elena asked as she approached her daughter-in-law.

"That's a good idea, Mamá Elena. But I think we're going to have call the doctor first," Luisa winced as another pain hit, "This little one is ready for her debut."

* * *

 

Another screech of pain echoed down the hallway as the members of the family waited anxiously outside. Luisa had been in labor for nearly nine hours, no one had slept, practically everyone was waiting anxious to greet the newest member of the Rivera family. But none of them were more excited than Miguel, who had helped prepare the room for his new sibling and was excited to show her a world with music.

However, the only one who could rival Miguel's excitement was Enrique, who was pacing nervously back and forth since his wife was taken to the separate room by Elena. Enrique only to ended up running to his wife's side ignoring the angry shouts from Elena who ordered him to wait outside, despite his argument that it was 2018 and things had changed. But Elena would not budge.

"Tía?" Miguel asked Gloria timidly, wincing as another cry of pain came from behind the door. "How much longer until my sister's here?"

Smiling softly as she ruffled her nephew's hair, Gloria had quietly stood up, smoothing out her bathrobe as she eyed the door. "It's hard to say, mijo. You weren't exactly anxious to make an appearance either."

"I wasn't?" Miguel asked, curious to hear this story.

Shaking her head softly, Gloria went on, "Your mamá was in labor all day before you decided to join the world."

Abel nodded, eager to add his contribution to the conversation. "And you were as stubborn then as you are now, primo." Taking a sip of water, he went on, "Besides, it may not even be a girl. You might end up with a brother."

Over the past month and even before Dia de los Muertos, Abel and Miguel had been debating on whether or not the new baby would be a boy or a girl.

"No, primo. It's a girl." Miguel said firmly. "I know it."

The two cousins were about to get started on another boy-or-girl debate when all the sudden, an ear-piercing cry of a newborn filled the room, causing the cousins to stop their debate. After a few seconds, Enrique and Elena rushed into the room, eyes full of excitement. Miguel ran to his papá, anxious to find out if it was a boy or a girl.

"!Es una chica!" Enrique revealed much to the excitement of everyone in the room as they cheered with joy and congratulated Enrique. Coco smiled softly, delighted at having another great-grandchild to spoil and love.

Taking a deep breath to ration his excitement, Miguel walked quietly into the room, holding back any excited gritos. He was a big brother now, after all and he had to be a responsible brother. And waking up half the town at 7 am wasn't the way to win back their support over this de la Cruz debacle.

Luisa was propped up in bed, holding a blanket-wrapped bundle close to her chest. Her hair had been fastened back and she looked exhausted but definitely happy. Gently, Luisa handed the baby over to Miguel with firm instructions from Elena to "be careful, don't drop her and support her head."

"Meet your sister, Miguelito," Luisa said as she watched her son and grandmother-in-law fawn over the little girl. With a gentle tenderness that one wouldn't have expected from the 12-year old, Miguel gently passed his little sister over to his bisabuelita, helping Coco hold her little great-granddaughter as they quietly sang "Remember Me" to the baby, who looked up at them with a sense of awe.

When the song finished, Coco quietly asked Luisa, "What did you name her, mija?"

"We named her Socorro, Mamá Coco. Socorro Victoria."


	21. Finding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone notes the changes between Imelda and Héctor whilst a note from Miguel brings uncertainty...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, a huge thank you goes out to my beta reader Halloween Foxface for all the help! It's been amazing!
> 
> Enjoy the story!

The day started on an interesting note for everyone within the Rivera house. It wasn't a bad occurrence but rather one no one thought would happen. Héctor escorted his wife to the table where the other relatives sat, who were shocked and anxious to find out what was going on. After all it wasn't every day that Imelda allowed Héctor to escort her anywhere since they had come to the Land of the Dead. In fact, it never happened before, since the stern woman refused to have anything to do with her husband. But that was before Miguel came and changed everything.

"What?" Imelda asked as her brothers looked at her in shock. "Qué paso, hermanos?"

"Nada, Imelda." Oscar said

"Everything is fine," Felipe finished. But there was no doubt they were both shocked with what they were seeing.

First, Héctor was holding his wife's hand and second, he wasn't using the cane to support himself. He was still a little shaky but overall, he looked as good as ever. Some could say he almost looked alive, or at least how he used to appear before his death. His clothes, repaired by Rosita and Victoria in the first week of his stay, were a little wrinkled from having slept on Imelda's bed all night.

Imelda, however, seemed much better than she had in weeks. She had finally begun to look like herself again. The constant stress and concerned look that seemed to have melted away. However, the emotional and psychological toll of what happened might take some time to overcome. But Imelda knew fully well that she and her husband had made progress as a couple. Granted, she wasn't ready to share a bed with him again or do anything sexual beyond a kiss or hug. But the fact that she had kissed him meant progress in everyone's eyes.

"Hermana," Oscar asked as he and his brother helped their sister to her designated chair. "Qué es eso?"

"Sí," Imelda began warily as she cast her glance around the table. "I'm fine. But there is a more pressing issue." Feeling her voice falter and knowing the following subject was difficult for her to discuss, Héctor decided to step in. I'm the papá of the family now, he reasoned. Time to step up and help.

"We need to find out what to do about Ernesto," Héctor began, feeling the waves of anger and disgust come off his family. "If anything happens to any of you…"

Coming over to cocoon Héctor in one of her famous hugs, Rosita quietly murmured "Don't worry, Papá Héctor. We'll be fine. Us Riveras are tough and we'll look out for each other."

"And I don't want you blaming yourself for what happened, Héctor." Imelda added as she leaned into her husband's arms. "In no way is this your fault."

Nodding, Héctor sat down on the couch, gently pulling Imelda into his lap. Much to the shock of the rest of the family, Imelda didn't fight it. Instead she relaxed a bit and let Héctor rub soothing circles on her vertebrae. "I know, amor. But I don't want anything to happen to any of you. I won't let anything happen to mi familia."

"There are still De la Cruz fans who love and admire him," Julio pointed out. "Regardless of what they saw that night."

The calm gone, Imelda's temper boiled forth as she got up to address the family. "Millions of people saw what he did to our Miguelito! Millions heard what he did to Héctor!" Eyes flashing in heat waves, Imelda angrily paced around the room whilst Héctor followed in an effort to try and calm his wife down. "De la Cruz is NOT getting away with this. He CANNOT get away with this!"

"And he won't, Imelda!" Héctor said sharply as he sat his wife down on the sofa again. Taking a deep breath to contain his own temper (which could rival his wife's if he was really worked up), Héctor spoke softer. "Miguel is safe in the Land of the Living. He and our living relatives are doing everything they can to prove to the world that de la Cruz isn't who he says he is. And even with his army of fans, most of the Land of the Living saw the broadcast live on Dia de los Muertos. The only problem is proving that I wrote most of his songs. That little red notebook, I don't know where it is now."

The twins gasped in unison, glancing at each other. They remembered that book quite vividly. They had given the book to Héctor for his 20th birthday, only a year before he went on the road with Ernesto. Héctor never went anywhere without that book and when it had vanished along with him, Imelda had assumed that he had sold it to a fancy film studio.

Just as Imelda was about to request a reprieve for the afternoon so everyone could take a break, Dante came barreling in at ninety miles an hour, knocking Julio to pieces and nearly sending Victoria flying into a table.

"Dante? What is it?" Héctor asked as his granddaughter quickly helped reassemble her father.

Dante seemed to have gotten lost in the thrill of all the running and the mission Miguel sent him on. He ran around the room at least two more times, causing Julio to be knocked to pieces again just as he was almost out back together. It took the combined efforts of Héctor tackling Dante to the ground and Pepita hissing outside at Dante in order for them to get the hyper dog to calm down.

After a few minutes of heavy breathing Dante wiggled out of Héctor's grasp and shook his head out of the collar, which had a note attached. After Héctor untied the note, Dante barked happily as Rosita gave him a donut to eat. Julio put his head back on with the help of his daughter, grumbling about Dante being loco.

Without another word, Héctor untied the note from Dante's collar and read it, eyes nearly falling out in shock.

_Hola a todos,_

_Hope everyone's doing alright. It has been crazy in the Land of the Living. Mamá gave birth to my sister two weeks ago and we named her Socorro Victoria. She is so cute and everyone says that she looks so much like Mamá that she could be her twin!_

_We've all been working to find proof that Papá Héctor is the true songwriter of De la Cruz's songs. Señor Martinez, the investigator, has been doing research in México City and trying to find out where you are, Papá Héctor so he can bring you home to us. So far, he managed to prove that you purchased a return ticket to Santa Cecilia on the night of December 24, 1921 as well as a hotel room at El Hotel Exaltado Emperador. But we need your help as well._

_Abuelita wants to know whether or not De la Cruz had Papá Héctor's book buried with him or if it is with someone else that worked with him. Señor Lopez, the owner of the crypt probably would have sold it to some auction house or something if he kept it, but Papá doesn't think he would have. We've tried looking through various pawn shops and antique stores but have had no luck._

_We're not giving up on you, Papá Héctor. We're going to keep looking until we bring you home and find that book._

_Miguel_

_P.S. I overheard Mamá Coco's doctor telling Abuelita that it's a matter of days or weeks now. I'm sad but in a way but I'm also happy that she'll be able to see you again Papá Héctor._

As he finished reading the letter, there was a sudden hush. No one knew what to say. Imelda, had she been a living woman, would have lost all the color in her face. Victoria also looked pleased, but very nervous as she reread the last part of the letter that spoke about her mother. Victoria's early death from ovarian cancer had been a devastating blow for her mother. As a result, Coco's mental health had suffered greatly causing Victoria to fear that her mother hated her. A fear that no one in the house knew about except for perhaps Julio.

The twins didn't speak out, not knowing what to say. Héctor, however, wasn't sure what to feel. He would finally be able to see his beloved daughter, his little sunshine. But not the way he thought he would. His little chica was going to join him and his amor in the Land of the Dead.

After a long silence, Imelda spoke up, her voice wobbly and shaken, clearly on the verge of tears as she rose.

"We have to find De la Cruz. We have to find out where that book is." Imelda stated as she furiously wiped tears away from her cheeks.

"But where can we look?" Rosita asked. "He wouldn't be in the Arts District, nor at his fancy mansion. He would want to go and be invisible."

Eyes brightening, Héctor stood up.

"I think I have an idea on where to find him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, is it a good idea or bad idea?


	22. Ideas Are Great, Aren't They?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While everyone is out looking for de la Cruz, Frida comes up with an idea to help Héctor and Imelda's relationship...

Héctor looked down warily as he took in the Land of the Dead's scenery, searching for Ernesto de la Cruz. Rosita and Julio had stayed behind to keep an eye on the shop, whilst the rest of the family was out looking for the disgraced musician. It had been Héctor's idea to go down to check out the interiors of the cenotes, despite Imelda protesting that no one was allowed to live down there due to the unsafe conditions.

The fact that Ernesto and his bodyguards had thrown Héctor as well as Miguel down into one, broke several laws in the Land of the Dead. Attempted murder of a living child for starts, but also illegally owning a cenote without registration was another, not to mention physical assault of both the dead and living.

"I still can't believe that asesino had the audacity to throw you and Miguel into a cenote!" Imelda said angrily.

"Imelda, por favor," Héctor pleaded. "Cálmese. Maybe I should do this alone. It was my idea and I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I don't care! What if he tries to hurt you again or worse?" Imelda shot back, angry tears pricking at her eyes as she looked up at her husband. Héctor didn't say anything about his wife's outburst but held Imelda tightly to him in an attempt to calm her down. Intimate moments such as this between the couple were increasing at a steady rate, much to everyone's joy. After a moment Imelda relaxed, while Victoria encouraged Pepita to stop and land so everyone could stretch their legs. It was time for a break.

"We won't get anywhere if we're tired, Abuelita." Victoria argued when Imelda tried to protest. "Let's try again later. If Ernesto wants to avoid attention or an angry crowd, he won't risk leaving his hiding spot. He'll want to stay where he is to avoid attracting attention."

Victoria's words were proven correct. As two more weeks went by, there was no sign of de la Cruz. But no one was giving up and soon, almost the entire Arts District was out searching. Even neighbors of the Riveras, including the ones or those who did not see the broadcast on Dia de los Muertos, were in on the search.

Maria Quesada, along with her husband Vicente, had instantly offered their support. Having known Imelda since she got married, the couple supported Imelda every step of the way. Both of them loved Imelda like a surrogate daughter and Maria had even delivered Coco when she was born. After they had both passed into the afterlife in the early '50s from old age, Imelda had their pictures placed up on the Riveras' ofrenda.

"If anyone deserves happiness after all of this, it's you Imeldita." Maria said when Imelda revealed why Héctor was prevented from coming home and what had happened on Dia de los Muertos.

"Gracias, Mari." Nodding quietly as Maria saw her off in the Riveras' compound, Imelda stood up as she climbed up on Pepita's back, heading back to regroup with everyone at the Arts District after another day of searching. Héctor thought about asking how things went with Maria but upon seeing Imelda's determined face, he knew questions would have to wait until later.

Repairing the couple's relationship had been a slow, but steady process. Imelda had allowed Héctor to move back into her bedroom, but they had both agreed to keep any intimate contact inside the bedroom to a minimum. Granted Imelda wanted to be close with Héctor again (and vice versa), but Héctor did not want to push his wife into anything too soon and wanted her to be comfortable with him being back in her life as her husband.

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later, Pepita landed on the rooftop of Frida's apartment, or as Héctor called it, "Ground Zero." Due to the press attention placed on de la Cruz and the Riveras, Frida Kahlo had come up with the idea to have everyone involved with the search stay at her apartment complex. The shoemaking family had politely declined, due to their need to be at the shop, not to mention "Riveras don't go into hiding when there is trouble but face it head-on!" (according to Imelda).

Ceci had stayed at the apartment, not wanting Frida and Diego to deal with the press alone. Gustavo and the other musicians had offered their help as well, but not after apologizing profusely to Héctor (who had to hold back a furious Imelda) for teasing him.

"So," Frida said as she gave Imelda a hug that rivaled Rosita's, "How's the search for Ernesto de la Loco going?"

Shaking his head, Héctor collapsed on a nearby couch. "No luck, Frida. We've looked everywhere. He doesn't want to be found."

"If you ask me, with just his appearance alone, how can he NOT be found? Especially with that house and that stupid outfit of his." Ceci pointed out as she jabbed a needle into a dress she was working on. "And another thing! I still don't understand why you don't want that house, Héctor! It's decent payback after what that sorry excuse of a man did to you and your grandson!"

"For the thousandth time, I don't want it, Ceci!" Héctor exasperatedly told the seamstress. "I don't want his fame or riches. I just want to be with mi familia. With mi Coco. If anyone deserves his riches, its mi otra familia. The Forgotten."

Thinking for a brief moment, Frida instantly sprang up with an idea. "What about turning the house into a sort of hospital? That way people can care for them and they won't go through their Final Deaths alone."

Nodding, Ceci and Héctor nodded, both in agreement with the idea but Imelda stayed quiet. Frida instantly realized that wasn't the right thing to say in front of Imelda. The topic of Héctor's almost Final Death was still a sore topic for the shoemaker. Sensing this, Ceci took Imelda outside for a breath of fresh air.

Back inside the studio, Frida had taken a cup from the cabinet and poured herself a cup of coffee, but not before offering one to Héctor. She had become a sisterly mentor to Héctor and wanted to offer her help in every way, even in the area of marriage counseling.

"How are things with you and Imelda, Héctor?" Frida asked, keeping her voice low.

Shrugging, Héctor said "It's hard to say, Frida. I don't want to push her further than she's comfortable. She's been through so much these past few months. I want to be able to make it up to her."

Nodding in agreement, Frida added. "My marriage was not easy either Héctor. We divorced right after I found out that Diego was having an affair with my sister. Yes, I had cheated too, but it seemed of little importance. It took a year away and a trip to jail to realize that I loved him more than life itself."

Héctor wanted to point out that his marriage hadn't been quite as rocky and that he would rather go through a Final Death than cheat on his beloved diosa, but he didn't have to say anything. Frida picked up on his anxiety right away.

"I know it's a different situation, but listen to me," Frida pointed out. "You have time to make it up to Imelda. Why not have another wedding?"

Frida's words immediately sparked an idea in Héctor. Having another wedding would be something Imelda would definitely like, and he was sure the rest of the family would on board. Their first wedding had been a hurried, quiet affair at the City Hall in México City, witnessed only by Oscar and Felipe. Héctor's parents were both dead by that point and Imelda's family (with the exception of the twins) refused point-blank to have anything to do with her. If the last few months proved anything, it was that Imelda definitely deserved another wedding.

"Would she want to marry me again, Frida? After all of this?" Héctor pondered as he looked to where Imelda was sitting with Ceci. Frida smiled softly and nodded.

"I have no doubts, mi amigo." Frida said, excitement bubbling in her. "Do you want me to help arrange an extra special proposal or wedding for the two of you?"

Héctor instantly recalled a time when he had gone to one of Frida's wild parties and, needless to say, that type of party did not suit him. Way too many illegal substances for his taste. But not wanting to say those things to Frida, Héctor decided to say something else.

"We'll let you know, Frida."

Just as Héctor was about to go out and fetch Imelda to ask her opinion, the twins ran inside, completely out of breath and carrying what looked like a dirty piece of paper.

"We found it—" Oscar began

"Outside—" Felipe added

"The shop." They finished together as they collapsed in a heap on the couch.

Grabbing the piece of paper from them, Héctor read it out loud, his jaw close to falling off in shock.

_**BOOK IS HIDDEN WHERE IT ALL BEGAN.** _


	23. Recuérdame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the mariachis speaks to Rosa about guilt and the sadness of losing a parent. 
> 
> Warning: sensitive content ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone's doing well and thank you so much for staying by my side for this story! In terms of timing, this chapter takes place in early May 2018. Hope you like the chapter.
> 
> Beta note from Halloween Foxface: Hey guys I just wanted to let you know as someone who has lost many loved ones before even to an illness, we approached this subject with much care and as delicately as possible since this is not very easy to handle. I'd also like to apologize if anyone believes we handled this incorrectly.

_No dejare de quererte_

While the search for the now-most hated skeleton in the Land of the Dead continued, things in the Land of the Living were slowly, but surely moving along. A new radio had been installed in the workshop and everyone soon grew to love having it around, humming becoming very commonplace.

Only a week before, Enrique and Berto went down to México City themselves to aid Martinez in the search of both the book and in finding Héctor's body. They had almost nothing to go by, except a few strands of Coco's hair and a general location of where to look based on the letters that Héctor wrote home.

The train station that was on Héctor's ticket had been torn down in the early '50s due to a massive earthquake, but with the help of 21st century technology and some history books that Gloria borrowed from the library, Martinez was able to draw a map to determine an approximate location.

At Coco's insistence, Elena decided to go to Mariachi Plaza, leaving Luisa and Miguel to look after her mamá. Ever since Miguel and Rosa started going there regularly after the school day was over, Elena had started going there too. While many of the townspeople were getting used to seeing her there, others were not and made their opinions known.

Luckily for Elena, it was a quiet day in the Plaza and she soon spotted Rosa with one of the other mariachis who was showing her a new tune for her violin. The other mariachis noticed Elena walking towards them and straightened up a bit.

Their fear of her was still there but disappearing day by day. While many of the mariachis had forgiven her for her previous actions towards them, others were not so forgiving. The mariachi that Elena had hit with her chancla on Dia de los Muertos was afraid of her to the point of running away whenever she was in the Plaza. That coupled with the impending death of her mother made Elena feel even worse about her previous behavior.

Not wanting to disturb her granddaughter's music session, Elena kept her distance and headed over to do some window-shopping, ignoring the fact that nearly everyone in the Plaza was staring at her.

Noticing that Rosa had stopped playing and was uncharacteristically staring off into space, the mariachi, a man by the name of Jorge Alvarez, also stopped playing as he looked at Rosa with concern. Having developed a close friendship with her over the last two months, he instantly asked Rosa what was wrong.

"Que pasa, señorita?" he asked politely, putting his guitar down on a nearby crate. "Is everything ok? You looked worried."

Shaking her head, Rosa sat up and pointed out Elena who had decided to stop and chat with another market vendor to compare leather prices. Opening up to other people wasn't her strong suit but today, Rosa felt like she had to tell someone what she was feeling.

"It's been tough señor," Rosa murmured softly, airing out all her feelings. "My Mamá Coco is dying. Abuelita is taking it hard. Really hard. I just wish that the other mariachis would forgive her. I know that you and most of the others have but it seems like a few haven't."

Nodding understandingly, Alvarez sat down on the crate with the teenager.

"I can understand that, señorita," Alvarez said with sympathy in his voice. "Losing a parent is never an easy thing to go through. And I wouldn't worry about your abuelita. I don't think she meant to hurt Miguel."

"But what about you?" Rosa asked as the mariachi began tuning his guitar. "Do you forgive my abuelita for her actions?"

Nodding empathetically, the mariachi looked over at towards Elena, who had headed over to talk to the mariachi herself. "I understand why she did what she did, señorita. And I hold no grudge against her," Turning to address Elena, the man continued "Don't worry about the other mariachis, doña. I'll talk to them."

Thanking the man, Rosa and Elena made their way home. As soon as they got there, Rosa headed for the workshop while Elena headed for her mamá's bedroom. Franco was sitting with his mother-in-law while he was reading one of the books that Martinez had left for them. Many of the books were in English but luckily both Gloria and Franco, who took many of the shop's international orders from America, understood enough to translate.

"Elena?" Franco murmured as he watched his wife's figure tense as she headed for Coco's room "Qué paso?"

Shaking her head out of the clouds, Elena grasped her mother's hand to her chest. "Nothing, Franco. I'm fine. How is Mamá?"

Sensing that something else was wrong, Franco decided not to push it. Over nearly five decades of marriage, he learned that pressing Elena wouldn't end well. But he also knew that sugarcoating wouldn't do for Elena.

She had to hear the honest truth and Franco knew that the truth was something Elena would not like. As Franco stood aside, the doctor stepped forward with a grave expression on his face. Coco was sleeping peacefully; her illness having confined her to a bed over the last two months.

"The important thing is keeping her comfortable, Señora Rivera." The doctor said softly.

Choking back tears, Elena couldn't find her voice properly as Franco tried to comfort her.

"When?" Elena managed to say as tears streamed down her face.

"Probably tonight or at the latest, tomorrow." The doctor said in a serious tone. He had been Coco's doctor long before the ban had ended and knew her well. And a few months before, he had delivered Coco's namesake, a beautiful little girl named Socorro Victoria.

Standing back to allow Elena and Franco some time alone, the doctor quietly excused himself from the room, opening the door to find Miguel on the other side. He had tears streaming down his face as well, having overheard what had been said.

Knowing that now wasn't the time to scold Miguel for eavesdropping, Elena invited him into the room and told him simply to play for her mamá while she went to talk to the rest of the family to inform them of what was going to happen.

The rest of the day went by in a flurry of quiet activity. With the shop closed, everyone went in to Coco's room one at a time to say goodbye to her. Benny, Manny, Rosa and Abel brought in cempasúchil, leaving the room almost covered in the brightly colored flowers wishing for her to leave the world seeing the beauty the world still held and so that she may be guided by the spirits to the Land of the Dead.

When Enrique went in to see Coco, he pressed a photocopy of the repaired family photo into her hand as well as the poems and the books that her papá had written for her. As they sat together, they read the poems and sang the songs together pausing in between to recall and laugh about distant memories. He also informed her of their progress in their search for the songbook.

"We're not giving up, Abuelita."

* * *

By evening, only Miguel, Elena, Franco, Enrique and the doctor were there as Miguel played Héctor's guitar. Everyone else waited outside, not wanting to crowd the tiny room. Elena was at her mother's bedside, holding her hand against her heart as Miguel started singing Coco's special song.

_Recuérdame_

_Hoy me tengo que ir mi amor_

_Recuérdame_

_No llores por favor_

_Te llevo en mi corazón y cerca me tendrás_

_A solas yo te cantaré soñando en regresar_

As he played, everyone else joined in, some silently shedding tears. Coco smiled happily surrounded by her loved ones and weakly began singing as well, happy to know her papá's song was not going to be forgotten.

_Recuérdame_

_Aunque tenga que emigrar_

_Recuérdame_

_Si mi guitarra oyes llorar_

_Ella con su triste canto te acompañará_

_Hasta que en mis brazos tú estés_

_Recuérdame_

Just as they sang the last note, Coco began to fall asleep, her breathing become slower and shallower until she fell silent.

Without a word, the doctor quietly checked for a pulse and with a look at the family, shook his head. The illness that had wracked Coco's memory was finally over. She was finally at peace and able to see her parents again.

Somewhere in another realm, Héctor jolted awake from a dream, waking Imelda in the process.

"Héctor? What's wrong?"

"It's Coco. She's here."


	24. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coco gets reunited with her family, but something happens that could shock everyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for following along on this journey! Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

While many would argue that Dante didn't look very smart, they would be wrong. Dante's main focus was food, but he also had another driving interest too: helping out his Miguel's family as much as possible. After all, what kind of alebreje was he if he couldn't look after Miguel's family? So now he had a new mission: guide Coco on her journey to the Land of the Dead.

Walking as quickly as his clumsy legs would take him, Dante headed for his boy's home. Many times, he had been shooed away from there by the scary lady with the flying shoe of pain, but after heroically defending the house from an evil man, Dante was welcomed there like any member of the family.

If anyone thought that Dante's actions were out of the ordinary or strange, no one commented. The scary lady looked grief-stricken as she moved flowers around to certain areas of the living room. Miguel smiled sadly as he looked at Dante and then murmured very softly, "Take care of her, Dante. Por favor." The scary lady then walked in and looked sad as she drew Miguel into her embrace. Looking up from the top of Miguel's head, she murmured a few words to Dante: "Gracias, Dante. For protecting mi mamá that day."

With a lick to the scary lady's cheek and a solemn nod to Miguel's request with his tongue flapping out, Dante moved to the next room. There he found who he was looking for: an elderly skeleton woman with braids, standing up and looking around at the various candles and flowers. In her arms, she had a copy of the photos, journals, and even a spirit copy of a guitar. Upon hearing Dante enter the room, she turned around, smiled and walked towards him.

"You're Miguel's alebreje, verdad?" she asked kindly, pausing to scratch Dante's ears. "Can you show me the way?"

Nodding eagerly, Dante bit onto Coco's rebozo and tugged her towards the marigold bridge in the town cemetery. It was still dark out, but Dante knew the way perfectly. At first, Coco was a bit nervous about the bridge, but not wanting to delay, she took a deep breath and walked onto it with determination, feeling the world of the living growing smaller behind her.

As she crossed, Coco's eyes grew huge to the point of nearly falling out of her skull. Miguel hadn't been lying when he said that the Land of the Dead was beautiful and unique. It looked nothing like any of the towns that her papá had described from his travels, but it held a certain quality of beauty to it.

Dante led Coco over to the "Arrivals" gate, where thousands of other skeletons waited their turn in line. Some were very animated and talking loudly, while others looked solemn and serious, not sure what to expect in the next life. Coco simply remained quiet, taking in everything around her: the bright colors and seemingly never ending towering buildings awaiting in the distance where her loved ones might be, enjoying the afterlife that she would now join. Many of the skeletons were wearing nightclothes, just like Coco was, so embarrassment over wardrobe choice wasn't too worrisome.

"Next!" cried the Arrival agent as Coco stepped forward. "Name?"

"Socorro Maria Rivera."

At that the arrival gate's agent jaw fell off in shock. "R-Rivera? The shoemaker family?"

Furrowing her brow slightly, Coco answered "Sí? Is there something wrong?"

Shaking his head to clear the fog, the arrival agent nodded reassuringly, but cringed slightly. "Nothing's wrong, Señora. Your father's very well known around here. But unfortunately, due to the lateness of the hour and unfortunate mishap. there was a bit of a holdup on the trolley, we couldn't inform your family. Lo siento."

Gently reassuring the skeleton (who was probably in his late 30s), Coco simply responded with "It's alright, señor. Do you know where they live?"

Just as the skeleton was about to write down the address, a bedraggled skeleton wearing pajamas and a coat bolted into the station, a winged jaguar creature at his side. Looking around frantically, he instantly spotted Coco and made a beeline for her. Coco frowned for a moment in confusion, but instantly recognized him as her papá as he grew closer. Tears of happiness seemed to well up and pent up emotions of pain and longing from the loss of her papá seemed to slam her as her beloved papá, her familia, came closer.

"Papá!"

Instantly Héctor pulled Coco into his arms, smothering her with endless kisses and hugs, not caring who was watching or what was happening. The arrival agents watched close by, some had tears in their eyes as they watched the reunion.

"Coco! Mi pequeño pájaro cantor! I'm so sorry, Coco. I missed you so much. I tried to come home, but—"

"Papá it's ok." Coco whispered hugging her papá. She finally had him back and never wanted to let him go.

Miguel told me what happened to you, but I already had a feeling. But I never stop thinking once that I would see you again."

At that, Héctor's tears spilled over with love for his daughter. Awkwardly clearing his throat, the arrival agent stepped forward. "I'm sorry to interrupt your family reunion, señor. But we need to get you both out of here before the press finds out."

"Press?" Coco asked, confused as she looked at Dante then her father. "Papá, what's going on?"

Squeezing his daughter's frame to his, Héctor quietly said, "I'll explain everything on the way home. It's a long story."

Nodding quietly, Coco gathered up her belongings and after a promise to send in the arrival paperwork the next day, headed out of the crowded station with her papá.

* * *

The walk home was relatively animated, Héctor never stopped talking about how much he missed Coco and what had been happening in the Land of the Dead since Miguel's visit. Coco also explained what had been happening in the Land of the Living. Héctor listened with rapt attention, knowing that details were important.

Suddenly filled with a sense of dread, Coco turned to her papá. Worried, Héctor asked his little girl what was wrong.

"Mamá. Is she okay with you being here? Did she allow music back into the house here? I know she performed on Dia de los Muertos in front of thousands, Miguel told me."

Héctor nodded, a bit somberly. "Calmése, Coco. Mamá is fine. She's at home getting things ready for you. It took a bit of time to get her adjusted to music again, but she loves it now more than ever. She even agreed to perform with me."

That part filled Héctor up with the greatest excitement. After several days of begging and pleading, Imelda agreed to perform again alongside her love. Héctor also told his daughter that Imelda also agreed to have a second wedding, under the condition that the wedding occur after Coco's arrival so she could participate.

Upon walking in the door, Coco was instantly bombarded with greetings from her relatives. Looking around, Coco instantly saw her mamá, who instantly enveloped her in a tight hug. Relishing in her mother's warm energy and familiar scent, Coco felt completely at home.

"Mí Coco." Imelda's muffled reply came. "My little Coco."

Julio came next, gently kissing her for the first time in decades and hugging her tightly, "I missed you so much, Coco."

After a few minutes, Coco's eyes landed on her eldest daughter, who was standing near Julio. Victoria appeared to be worried and out of focus, clearly afraid of her mamá's reaction to seeing her.

Determined not to ruin her mamá's arrival, Victoria straightened up and gave her mamá a quick peck on the cheek, saying softly "I'm happy to see you again, Mamá," before letting Oscar and Felipe get in on the hugs. Knowing that her eldest would not feel comfortable telling her true feelings, Coco decided to ask Victoria later, once the excitement of her arrival died down. Finally, Rosita, who almost knocked Coco off her feet with the strength of her hug.

After a few more hugs, Imelda announced that it was time to let Coco get some rest, knowing fully well that getting used to being in a new body would be tiring for the first couple of days. Nodding, everyone agreed, leaving Coco, Julio and her parents alone.

Coco embraced both her parents and then followed Julio up the stairs to their own room, leaving Imelda and Héctor standing in the hallway. At first, there was no talking, but Imelda knew right away that there were no words that could be used to describe their happiness at seeing their daughter again.

"We should probably try and get some sleep, Héctor," Imelda said as she stood up to head for their bedroom. "We need rest to face tomorrow. And figure out who wrote that note."

"Who do you think wrote it, Imelda?" Héctor asked as he pulled out the anonymous note that had been found in front of the shop earlier in the day. "I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to worry Coco, but I swear I recognize that handwriting. It looks so familiar."

Holding out her hand, Imelda skimmed the note once again before suddenly feeling very faint, collapsing into a nearby chair, suddenly realizing who wrote it with a pang.

"But, por qué? Porqué ahora? They haven't written me in years, decades."

"Imelda?"

Taking a deep breath, Imelda turned to face her husband, tears pooling in her eyes. "It wasn't Ernesto who wrote that note, mi amor. It was my parents."


	25. Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imelda and the twins confront her parents for the first time in over 90 years.

Coco could tell something was up. It had been two days since she arrived and although neither parent spoke, something seemed wrong. Not wanting to ruin their daughter's arrival, Héctor and Imelda both agreed to not reveal who had the book for a few days. Eventually, one night after dinner, she simply asked them and the whole story came pouring out, shocking everyone as they tried to come to terms with the information.

That night, after some tears (mostly from Imelda and Coco) that night, Imelda decided to try to track her parents down by herself. But the twins disagreed, wanting to go with her.

"Hermana, por favor—" Oscar pleaded.

"Cálmese." Felipe added, wincing as his sister directed Pepita to find their parents.

"At least, let us—" Oscar started to say, ignoring Imelda's glare.

"Come with you." Felipe said as he tried to calm his sister down.

Taking a deep breath, Imelda nodded and after a minute, both twins had climbed on board Pepita, both a bit shaky. If Pepita noticed this fear, she didn't react to it. After a whispered request from Imelda, the alebrije took off into the morning light, leaving behind a concerned family.

Victoria and Rosita sat down, trying to grasp some sense of the situation. Coco and Julio sat idle nearby, wearing looks of anger and sadness on their faces. In their minds, Imelda had been through enough without her parents giving her trouble.

"I don't know why Marco y Josefina have my book. Or where it could be in the living world." Héctor spoke firmly. "I didn't even realize that they were still here. I thought they had been forgotten."

* * *

Five minutes later, Pepita landed on a boat dock nearby, gently nuzzling Imelda in an attempt to comfort her. While Pepita could not track anyone due to the amount of foot traffic and the fact that Shantytown was virtually untraceable, it didn't matter to Imelda. She was on a mission and she knew where to look.

Taking a deep breath, Imelda walked away from the dock, feeling more emboldened by the minute as she walked towards the little stretch of houses, her brothers close behind.

"Are you sure—" Oscar whispered as he shuddered slightly.

"This is the place?" Felipe continued as he looked around nervously. Somehow it felt weird seeing his parents living on the outskirts of Shantytown.

Nodding firmly, Imelda answered, "Sí, gemelos. I'm sure." Walking forward without any hesitation, Imelda went to one door and knocked on it gently. Within minutes, a young 20-something skeleton wearing a flapper dress answered the door. Looking a bit confused, she asked, "Can I help you, doña?"

Holding out the piece of paper, Imelda asked simply. "I was just wondering if Marco y Josefina Escobar live near here?"

Smiling softly, the young skeleton answered, "Sí, they live two houses over." With a brief 'gracias', the siblings left the house, not wanting to explain what was going on.

Arriving at the house that they were directed to, Imelda rapped on the door a few times, feeling her anger grow minute by minute as footsteps neared. Oscar and Felipe took a protective stance behind their sister, sensing that the situation was about to turn ugly.

As the door slowly opened, the siblings stepped back and received their first view of their parents in almost 90 years. Josefina Escobar had aged well in both life and death. Revered as a town beauty at only 17, Josefina married her husband Marco only after a year of courting and Imelda had been born a year later, the twins following three years after.

Marco was a strict parent, a harsh believer in tradition and when Imelda revealed that she wanted to marry Héctor (as well as the news that she was pregnant) he had not hesitated in throwing her out and a few days later, both twins had left as well.

Marco icily looked at his children, knowing fully well the reason they had come, if not anything else. Josefina looked calm, almost collected as she watched her daughter thrust a piece of paper into her hands. Nothing about them had changed, except for the fact they were both dead.

"I see you got our note, Imelda." Marco responded as he took in his daughter's appearance.

"Por qué, Padre?" Imelda asked, ice hanging on every word. She hadn't felt that angry in years  

After Héctor had left, Marco had written to Imelda to convince her to come back but refusing to acknowledge his granddaughter except to call her _un bastardo._ Imelda had torn the letter up almost immediately.

After a tense minute, the couple invited their children into the home, mostly out of a sense of social obligation and the fact that many of the neighbors were gathering to watch.

Taking a deep breath, Marco stood up and addressed his daughter's question, "We wanted to give you a chance to come back to our lives and we wanted to talk to you without _him_ getting in the way. After all, one can hardly expect a músico to be a sufficient father and husband. Héctor certainly is not family material."

After taking a minute to calm herself down, Imelda simply asked, "Why do you have the book? And how did you get it?"

"We found it outside our house one day," Josefina answered. "It was from Jorge Rodriguez." The twins recognized it as the name of one of de la Cruz's bandmates and, if they remembered correctly, Jorge Rodriguez had taken a shine to Imelda before she had married Héctor.

"Why would he have the book? How did he get it?" Imelda demanded. "Necesito saber."

Marco turned away at those words, refusing to answer further. Josefina attempted to reach out for her daughter's hands, but a sharp look from her husband caused her to withdraw. It would seem that Imelda would have to find out for herself what Rodriguez did with the book in the living world.

With a curt 'gracias', the twins and their sister left the house feeling somewhat satisfied but still curious. Jorge Rodriguez clearly had a lot to answer for. As the twins were about to board, Felipe ran back into the house, yelling "I forgot something!" and came back, holding the book tightly in his arms as he handed it to his twin.

Just before Pepita was about to take off, Marco came outside, hands clasped behind his back.

"Won't you consider leaving that man behind? Or your bas-" Marco began but was silenced by an icy look from Imelda.

"De ninguna manera. Never call my daughter that again," Imelda said, her voice dripping with ice. "I won't hesitate in having Pepita pay you a visit."

The twins went silent. Imelda never threatened anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, and her daughter meant the world to her. Even if Coco was a grandmother and great-grandmother, Imelda would not hesitate to protect her only child.

On those words, Imelda and the twins climbed boarded Pepita, refusing to look back as they headed home. Imelda was eerily silent the entire time, refusing to talk, while the twins looked through the book to see whether or not it was the book they were looking for. After flipping through the pages (which were surprisingly intact), they managed to locate a single page on the back that had a child's drawing inserted as well as an attempt to white out three initials: H.E.R.

Upon landing back at the main house, Imelda went up to her bedroom, while the twins filled everyone in on the update and why they would need to track down Jorge Rodriguez. Coco's mouth hung open in shock as she attempted to take in the information while Victoria's face bore no emotion at all. Rosita had followed Héctor up the stairs, wanting to get to the bottom of what had happened.

Meanwhile upstairs, Héctor and Rosita had been trying unsuccessfully to console Imelda, as the distraught matriarch paced around the master bedroom. After a few tense minutes, Imelda collapsed on the bed in uncharacteristic defeat, tears streaming down her face. She was truly shaken, not just by what her parents said but also with the knowledge that there were more hurdles to jump before they could prove de la Cruz was a fraud to the living world. Héctor took her in his arms, gently shushing her as she cried. Never in his life had he seen Imelda this upset. Eventually Rosita decided to let the couple have some time alone and she went downstairs to prepare some snacks.

Héctor didn't know what to say that could help comfort his wife—he knew fully well that Imelda's father did not like him and if anything, this new development was below the belt.

Realizing that Imelda's sobs had turned to slow steady breaths, Héctor pulled the duvet over her sleeping form and went downstairs to speak to the rest of the family. They had gathered at the kitchen table, talking in hushed voices about the new developments.

"So, what do we do now?" Julio asked with a level of uncertainty to his voice. "We've had no luck finding de la Cruz and even if we did, almost everyone here wants him gone."

Julio's words were true in a way. The day before Coco's arrival, a group of angry skeletons had placed a bounty on de la Cruz and took out a hit on him. The possibility of de la Cruz already being found and captured was very likely, but the bodyguards? Not so much. Many of his bodyguards had gone into hiding and the ones who had thrown Miguel and Héctor into the cenote had been apprehended earlier that week.

"We have to try," Héctor said. "Jorge Rodriguez and his ancestors have the answers to what happened to the book. First things first, we have to get in touch with Miguel and see what he can find out. Then we have to talk to Ernesto. No matter what."


	26. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days after Coco's funeral, the living family learns about a shocking development

**Turning Tables Chapter 26**

Miguel quietly watched as the last of the visitors left the house, feeling a sense of relief but sadness. It had been three days since Coco left to be with her family in the Land of the Dead and things had been tough to adjust to. The funeral had been more of a celebration than anything else, everyone coming in to say goodbye and celebrate Coco's amazing life.

The shoe shop had also been closed for several days and once everyone got their bearings back, it was time to get back to work. Their efforts in locating Héctor's body and the songbook seemed never-ending. Gloria had been hard at work as well. She had been working on a secret project but had not said anything to the family except that they would love it when it was finished. Only Carmen and Luisa knew about it but refused to give the slightest hint as to what it might be. A few days later, Martinez (whom had been hard at work in México City) came with big news.

An anonymous tip had led him to a pawnshop that was hiding away in the depths of México City. After some pleading to the pawnshop owner, he revealed that they may have found Héctor's wedding ring with his and Imelda's initials inside. _HER + ISR. Héctor Emilio Rivera and Imelda Socorro Rivera_.

When Imelda got rid of Héctor's belongings all those years ago, she threw her wedding ring away in a compost bin. But unbeknownst to her, Coco had saved it and kept it in a special drawer along with the poems and letters. She had confided all of this to Elena, Miguel and Martinez just before she died.

"Are you sure that this is our Papá Héctor?" Rosa asked Martinez with a level of scrutiny. "Anyone could have the same initials."

"It's a promising start, señorita," Martinez explained patiently as he showed the young teen the photo comparison. "While it may not be a promising start DNA wise, the location of where the ring was found is an important clue."

"But how would this pawnshop have it?" Enrique asked, curious at how on earth they knew who Héctor was. "Why did they have it?"

Martinez took a deep breath. He had been working with the Riveras for over 7 months to try and bring their Papá Héctor home. And this next bit was not good. Sugarcoating it would not work. He gestured for everyone to take a seat; only Elena refused but eventually relented due to Franco's pleading. Carmen took the twins outside; she knew they didn't need to hear this.

"According to the pawn shop owner, his father found it outside the pawnshop one day and intended to sell it, but apparently no one wanted to buy it, so the current owner kept it hidden hoping to return one day." Martinez said as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "My guess is that de la Cruz dragged your Papá Héctor's body up that alleyway and the ring fell off at some point."

Having gone dead white by that point, Miguel croaked out in a voice that he almost didn't recognize as his own, "But what about the songbook?"

"My guess would be that he is buried behind that pawnshop," Martinez said. "Hopefully the book will be there too, but I can't make any promises. I'll get a search warrant so we can search Lopez's home here and I will lead the forensic team myself."

The family looked shaken as they took in the new information. Elena looked stunned and horrified; Gloria had tears shimmering in her eyes as she held her head in her hands. Berto and Franco were white as sheets, unable to speak a single word. Luisa and Miguel were crying softly, feeling horrible that Héctor had suffered so much. Baby Coco didn't understand what was going on, but she could definitely feel the tension as her little face turned sad, hands reaching up to her papá's face, which held no emotion as he tried to be strong.

After a brief goodbye to Martinez and a promise to come up to the city and help with the investigation in a few days, Enrique and Berto sat back down, feeling shaken and confused. Afterwards, they sent the younger Riveras outside in order to let the adults (Abel included) talk. There had been another pressing issue at hand, but no one had brought it up.

"I didn't want to alarm anyone, but Lopez has been quiet for some time now," Berto said worriedly as he looked towards the door. "He hasn't said anything about the guitar or threatening Miguel and Rosa."

"He won't try to come to the hacienda, Berto." Enrique pointed out. "But we definitely have to be alert. Just because he hasn't said anything, doesn't mean he's giving up. Men like that don't give up easily."

"I hate to say it," Elena said softly as she looked outside at her nietos, who had been practicing. "But I think we're going to have to tell them to stop going to the Plaza. At least until this whole de la Cruz mess is taken care of."

Abel looked shocked and immediately pointed out, "Abuelita, Lopez hasn't been by the Plaza in months. I don't think he'll try anything again."

Nodding slowly, Elena sat back down, trying to understand. Franco, sensing her distress, went to her side and said, "Lena, let's think it over and discuss in the morning. For right now, maybe one of us could accompany Miguel and Rosa to the Plaza until this whole thing is over."

Elena agreed and immediately called in the younger Riveras, all of whom were playing instruments outside. Once they came in and heard Franco's idea, they all agreed to have an adult accompany them to the Plaza at all times. At first, Rosa didn't like the idea but upon realizing that there were no other options other than staying away from the Plaza, she agreed.

* * *

 

The adults stayed up late that night, booking a hotel room for Enrique, Franco, Berto and Abel (after much convincing) as well as booking bus tickets for the next week to go to México City to aid in the search for the body and going over information. Martinez had kept the investigation team as small as possible, knowing that the fewer people that knew, the better. He had also agreed to let his niece, an essayist and forensic investigator, release the information about de la Cruz to the public to avoid having it be traced back to the Riveras. Everyone who was involved in the investigation was under a contract and non-disclosure agreement. No one could say anything without risk of legal ramification.

"That book has to be somewhere," Elena murmured as she reread the case notes. "It has to be here or in México City. I don't know who else would have it."

Upon hearing a crash, the family turned around to see a sleepy Miguel looking rather sheepish as he walked into the kitchen, carefully turning the chair he knocked over upright again.

"Mijo, what are you doing out of bed? It's after midnight." Luisa said softly as she went to her son. "And you know better than to eavesdrop."

"Lo siento, Mamá." Miguel said sluggishly. "But I can't sleep and—"

Without adding anymore words, Luisa knew that her son had another nightmare and that he had kept it hidden from the family. While the nightmares had been decreasing rapidly, there were times that Miguel would accidentally wake everyone up screaming. The last time Miguel did, Enrique wound up having to stay in his room the whole night in order to calm Miguel down and keep him from waking up Baby Coco.

Luisa's first temptation was to have Miguel sit in her lap, but the young teen headed for his special chair, collapsing into it with a huge sigh. The nightmares had been taking a toll on him.

"Can I come with you, Papá?" Miguel asked pleadingly. "I want to help."

Shaking his head, Enrique said, "It's not going to be pleasant work, Miguel. You heard what Señor Martinez said."

"Besides mijo," Luisa said as she softly touched her son's cheek. "We need your help here with your sister and in case our ancestors try to contact you again."

Miguel had been the only one able to contact the ancestors via Dante. When Elena had tried to get a message through via Dante to inform their ancestors of the updates, it vanished upon arrival to the cemetery. The family had recently gotten a computer, but Miguel knew that Imelda did not like anything new in technology so emailing would be out of the question. Besides, how do you email someone who uses dead technology where email does not exist?

Nodding sleepily, knowing that protesting would do him no good, Miguel started to head back to bed. "Just don't hide anything from me, Papá. Por favor. No mas secretos."

Enrique agreed just as Dante tore around the corner, a piece of flimsy cloth attached to his collar. Everyone moved out of the way as Dante collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted from running. Gently disentangling it from the dog's collar, Miguel read the note out loud, his eyes growing wider and wider.

On the sheet of paper read several words, cut from pieces of a newspaper and a Coca-Cola bottle: RODRIGUEZ-SANTA CECILIA-BANDMATE OF ERNESTO DE LA CRUZ.


	27. Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An explosive phone call leads to a development...one that affects Miguel immensely

As Enrique worked in the hot Mexico sun, he could feel the intense rays of the sun burn into his skin. It felt as though the deeper he searched with his shovel the hotter it would get.

Enrique paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead as he dug, watching as men took buckets and shovels, digging into the wet earth searching for the bones of a musician.

It had been three days since he, Berto, Franco and Abel had left the comfort of Santa Cecelia for the roughness of México City to help the investigation. To avoid raising suspicion with the local press or Lopez, they left midday with Quesada whom drove the four men to the bus station, claiming to go on an out-of-town supply run. But there was something else on Enrique's mind when he left. Something that was being hidden from Miguel.

Miguel had been receiving death threats and horrible notes, mostly from Lopez and de la Cruz fanatics. Elena had been hiding or destroying most of them, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before Miguel caught on or found the notes. _So much for no secrets._ Enrique thought with a pang of guilt.

Enrique had been reluctant to leave for the city before telling Miguel about the notes. He had observed that Miguel had seemed very worried about his abuelita's unnaturally jumpy behavior whenever the mail came in and the teen was clearly beginning to get suspicious. To both Enrique and Elena, it was a heavy reminder of what Miguel had to do to keep his passion for music alive and secret all those months ago, making the guilt of hiding this from him unbearable.

" _Quique, it will be fine. I promise. We'll make sure nothing happens while you're gone." Luisa murmured reassuringly to her husband, holding him in a tight embrace._

" _I'll be sure to check in," Enrique promised as he watched Miguel play his guitar. "But I would like to be the one to tell Miguel about what's going on."_

" _We'll do it together," Luisa said, a note of sincerity in her voice._

"Señor Rivera?" A young voice spoke up, snapping Enrique out of his reverie. Turning around to face the voice, Enrique answered with a faint "Sí?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we're stopping for the day. We'll have a police officer stationed down here to keep an eye on things and we'll start up again tomorrow."

On those words, the investigative team broke up, leaving the Rivera men to walk back towards their hotel, feeling a slight surge of hope as they walked. It had been a long and exhausting day of digging, interviewing the pawnshop owner and then more digging by Berto, Enrique and Abel.

Due to an old injury, Franco had stayed behind at the hotel, helping Martinez's niece, Silvana, with the paperwork side of the investigation as well as keeping the rest of the family informed. Since many of the books were in English (de la Cruz had gone on a US tour in the months before his death), Franco had also been acting as a translator for the investigative team. True to his word, Martinez had kept the team as small as possible and only three people (not counting the Rivera men) were out in the field actively searching.

So far, they had not found the songbook yet, but no one was giving up. Upon reaching the hotel's entrance, Enrique walked into his room and video-called the family and Luisa from Martinez's laptop. Technology was still new in Santa Cecilia and Wi-Fi was relatively expensive but with the help of Guy Quesada, he managed to get the Riveras a video-chatting app set up on the family computer with dial Internet access so Enrique could keep in touch with his family.

"How is the search going?" Carmen asked as she held little Socorro on her lap.

Shaking his head, Enrique answered "Nothing concrete yet, but hopefully something will turn up. We're getting close."

After a few minutes of confirming a few extra details, such as Héctor's believed height of 5'10 and the gold tooth (another detail that Coco had told Martinez since the whole family agreed to keep any details about Miguel's visit to the Land of the Dead secret), Franco left the conversation to go and speak to Martinez. Enrique stayed behind, asking Miguel about how things were going back home.

"I've been doing my own research on de la Cruz's band mate!" Miguel said excitedly as his papá came into view. "Man, it was hard. Most of the information that was found was in English, but Tía Gloria and Papá Franco were able to help me."

Miguel went on to reveal that he discovered three things about this mysterious band member. One, Rodriguez only had two living relatives, a daughter and son who lived in Mexicali, California. Two, Rodriguez had listed de la Cruz as his beneficiary when they went on tour in America.

"And finally, Rodriguez had mysteriously disappeared the year before de la Cruz died, leaving no trace of his whereabouts." Miguel finished solemnly. "No one knows where he is now."

After a quick goodbye and a promise to keep everyone updated on the search, Enrique ended the call.

When Enrique mentioned what Miguel had found out to Martinez the next day, the older man cautioned him to be careful. He had been doing his own research as well on Rodriguez and had drawn a terrible conclusion.

"I don't have to tell you that we're treading on dangerous territory here," Martinez said as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "But if my suspicions are correct, it is possible that de la Cruz murdered Rodriguez to prevent him from leaving the band. Just as he did to Héctor."

Enrique started thinking about what could be done. If that information went public, things could go south fast and it could make things worse. Besides, who knew whether or not Rodriguez's family would cooperate with the investigation? Worried, Enrique quickly called Elena from the workshop and told her everything. When he brought up keeping secrets, Elena became tense.

"I don't know how to tell him, Mamá, about these threats," Enrique admitted ashamedly. "He deserves to know what's going on."

"He NEEDS to know what's going on!" Elena spoke sharply. "We let him down by forcing him to hide his music from us and look what happened!"

"And I agree with you, Mamá" Enrique pleaded. "We need to tell him about this before he finds out from someone else."

Standing up abruptly, Elena spoke sharply, unaware that Miguel had come to the workshop, wondering what the commotion was about. "No one writes threatening letters to my nieto and gets away with it as long as I am a Rivera! I will go and get Miguel and then we will tell him what's really going on with these horrible threats!"

Despite Enrique's attempts to get his mamá to quiet down, lest Miguel overhearing it, it was too late. Miguel walked over and judging by the look on his face, he had overheard everything. And he was not happy one bit.

"Why didn't you tell me, Papá?" Miguel asked, his eyes quickly filling with tears. "How could you? Me prometiste! No more secrets! What threatening letters?"

Taking a deep breath, Enrique told his son the truth, knowing fully well it wouldn't be easy for Miguel to hear. As Miguel took in every word like a sponge, he became angrier and even more hurt. That scared Elena as she tried to calm down her hurting nieto.

_The last time that anyone had seen him like this was when I—no, no, no, Elena. Miguel has forgiven you for that. But I'm not sure he could forgive us for hiding something like this._

As Enrique finished the conversation by reassuring Miguel that he would be safe, there was a sudden hush as Enrique tried to gauge his son's reaction.

At first Miguel was clearly very hurt and angry that Enrique had kept this a secret from him. Taking a deep breath, Miguel stood up and not bothering to wait for a reply, ran out of the workshop.

Elena sighed and, after ending the call, decided to go look for him. That had not gone over well and there was no doubt that Miguel was angry. No, scratch that. He was furious.

When Enrique revealed what had happened to his papá, sobrino, y hermano over dinner that night, they too became very concerned. Enrique's guilt at not telling his son and having Miguel find out like this was not good. Without having to say anything, Enrique knew that the family had messed up again and let Miguel down—BIG time. What a mess.

* * *

The next day, the search began again but this time came with an element of success. About three hours into digging, a young man (part of the forensic team) cried out "Encontré algo!" After some careful digging and extracting, they were able to discern an entire skeleton buried in the mound. It would take a few weeks' worth of DNA tests, but Martinez and Silvana were both confident that these were the remains of Héctor Rivera.

But as satisfied that Enrique was about the new update, he knew that things back in Santa Cecilia were not so good. Miguel had not called or even texted, and according to Elena, he wouldn't talk to anyone except for Baby Coco. He had spent the rest of the day after the phone call holed up in his room (no music being played), only coming down for meals.

Just as Enrique was about to head back to the hotel to try and call Miguel again, Berto quickly ran up to him.

"Hermanito," Berto cried out. "Luisa is on the phone! ¡Es urgente!"

Quickly taking the phone, Enrique answered with a brief 'hola' but the sounds of Luisa crying filled his ears.

"Luisita? Qué pasó?" Enrique asked worriedly as his esposa wept.

"M-Miguel. He r-ran off, Quique and l-left a n-note! T-to find Lopez!"


	28. Peligro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miguel's living family frantically searches for him and lives through reminders of what had happened on Dia de los Muertos. Meanwhile Miguel is having flashbacks as he looks for Lopez.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mild violence
> 
> Beta note from Halloween Foxface: thank you guys and gals for your patience! I’m so sorry this took so long but ya editor had some real life crap to beat up but it’s all peaches and cream now ^-^ enjoy the chapter!!! TTFN!

Enrique hung up the phone quicker than ever before as he made a mad dash back to the hotel with Berto struggling to keep up. It had been an intense phone call trying to calm down an upset Luisa and then calling Quesada to see if he had seen Miguel.

Elena had tried to apologize of course, but Enrique was too tired and stressed out to care by that point. He had seen how hurt Miguel was when she destroyed his guitar, and that had crossed a line. But this? Quickly taking a deep breath to control his temper, Enrique called his mamá back.

“Mamá, what is going on? What happened?”                                                                                                   

Taking a deep breath, Elena’s panicked tone echoed through the phone, “He wouldn’t come down for dinner or even answer the door!  We tried to get him to come out, but he wouldn’t even talk to us. We left him be so he could calm down but when I went to check on him later, all I found was that note!”

Pointing fingers or taking blame, Enrique asked Elena whether or not anyone outside the family realized that Miguel was missing or knew what he was planning to do. If Lopez got wind of Miguel’s plan, it could put Miguel in danger. The teen had to be found quickly before Lopez did anything.

“Rosa, Carmen, and Gloria are out looking for him right now. Luisa and I are staying behind to see if Miguel will come back to the house. Oh Dios, espero que Miguel está bien.”

After a quick goodbye, Enrique hung up the phone, running his hands through his hair. He jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, and turned around to see a concerned looking Señor Martinez. He had been briefed by Berto about what was going on and had instantly agreed to keep it a secret. In his hands, he held two plane tickets, one for Berto and one for Enrique. Franco and Abel had agreed to stay behind in Mexico City to assist the team and in the unlikely event that Miguel would run away to the city. 

“Go find Miguel and we’ll keep you updated.”

“I can’t repay you enough for this señor, but as soon I can, I’ll—”

“It’s a family emergency, Enrique. It’s okay.”

With those words, Martinez told the men to hop in to his truck and he quickly sped off towards the airport. Time was of the essence.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Santa Cecilia, things had not been going so well. Miguel was nowhere to be found, which only made Luisa even more distraught. Gloria, Carmen and Rosa had been out looking for nearly 3 hours. Elena had stayed close to the phone, monitoring it like her life depended on it.

_Going to find Lopez._

_Vuelvo pronto._

_Why didn’t you tell me?_

**–** _Miguel_

Luisa reread the note over and over again, her worry turning to almost despair. That last sentence was not like her son at all and it deeply upset Elena when she read it. Miguel would never write something like that, but he was obviously very angry and extremely emotional. Once again, Miguel was facing death and an unknown future. Luisa was about to try to text Miguel again when a car pulling up to the hacienda caught her eye.

Enrique hadn’t even waited for the car to come to a complete stop as he jumped out of the car. The hour-long flight had been very stressful; Enrique had been a bundle of nerves the entire time despite Berto’s efforts to try to calm him down.

“Any luck, Luisita?” Enrique asked as he hugged his wife and daughter.

“No,” she answered shakily as tears pooled in her eyes. “I haven’t heard from him at all or seen him. Oh Dios, Enrique, what if Lopez hurts him? Or worse?”

Nodding softly as he held his wife, Enrique replied, “He won’t harm a hair on Miguel’s head. Not while I’m around.”

“I just can’t stop thinking about what had happened on Dia de los Muertos,” Luisa sobbed quietly into her husband’s shirt. “It’s happening again.”

Keeping those words in mind, Enrique blanched several shades of white as he struggled to keep his cool and comfort his wife at the same time. After a minute, he steeled himself and gathering his courage, he and Berto walked out of the hacienda, away from the plaza to locate the wayward 13-year old.

Meanwhile, Elena had been looking in the Plaza for Miguel, giving Carmen a break from searching as she headed back to take care of the twins. Many of the vendors had reported seeing Miguel and said that he had headed for the de la Cruz crypt, just as he had done on Dia de los Muertos.

While the other citizens went about their business, the mariachis watched, some in pure fascination, others with disgust written plainly on their faces. There was no doubt that they were remembering what had happened on Dia de los Muertos, which that Elena caught on to as she walked over to the mariachis.

“If you have something you want to say to me about my nieto, SAY IT. NOW.” Elena said angrily as she threatened the musicians with her chancla. While some of them backed away in fear, others stayed close. Then with a bold move, one of the younger mariachis walked over. Trembling with a mix of anger and adrenaline , he spoke:

“What we said to you when Miguel ran off the first time still applies. Don’t let anything happen to him."

Oh yes that. How could anyone forget what they had said the first time this happened? 

_Be it on your head, Señora Rivera, if any harm comes to Miguel because of your actions._

Elena thought about smacking the cheeky musician (who didn’t look much older than Miguel) and but then, Miguel’s hurt face flashed through her mind. Injuring a teenager with a chancla would not do any good or help find Miguel. Meanwhile, the mariachi had closed his eyes and braced himself for a hit, but it didn’t happen. Peeking through closed eyelids, he saw Elena pinching the bridge of her nose to prevent tears from falling. With a deep sigh, she put her chancla back on.

“Lo juro por mi vida,” Elena said, her face inches from the teenaged mariachi. “I will never do anything to harm mi nieto. I saw what my actions did to him and we’re working as a family to make it up to him. But por favor, have you seen our boy?”

“Last time I saw him, he was heading towards the Lopez house."

* * *

While the rest of the family was out searching for Miguel, the teen in question stood in front of Lopez’s big house. It was quite impressive in size seeming to imitate the lavishness of De La Cruz’s mansion in the Land of the Dead. 

A look of steely determination was on his face as he took in the statue of Lopez in front of his yard. With his greased back hair, a thin mustache, and a height of 5’9, Lopez was the definition of slime itself.

Miguel walked to the other side of the house and slipping through a window, he managed to get inside the kitchen. Miguel looked around in wonder and shock, reminded once again of of when he was with de la Cruz in his mansion. The only difference was that there was no pool and ornate paintings were hanging everywhere instead of a projector screen.

Miguel froze in fear, clearly remembering every detail of de la Cruz’s mansion vividly as he entered the main foyer of the Lopez house. Miguel froze in fear, every detail of de la Cruz’s mansion seemed to flash through his mind vividly as he entered the main foyer of the Lopez house. The memory of the man he use to admire flashing through his mind. Miguel shook his head to regain focus on what he came to do. As he gazed around he took note of the many similarities between the two houses.

To say it was big was an understatement. There were three massive chandeliers and a grand staircase that looked something out of an old movie that Luisa watched, it was safe to say that Lopez didn’t skimp on the luxuries.

Taking a deep, calming, breath, Miguel was about to go do some more poking around when voices came through from upstairs. Quickly, he dove back into the kitchen and taking out a voice recorder, began recording, his hands shaking as he hid it in his inside jacket pocket.

“We have to do something about that Rivera boy. If those notes don’t work” a familiar voice said. “Did you hear that his papá, primo, tío, y abuelo took off in the middle of the afternoon for a supply run?”

“Sí, Señor,” another voice, a woman’s, answered.

“Well, I think we need to cut their supply run short, don’t you?” Lopez answered as he walked near. “By any means. And get that guitar.” 

Miguel let out a small cry as Lopez turned towards the kitchen where Miguel was hiding. Walking in, Lopez noticed that nothing seemed out of place or amiss. Miguel had quickly hidden under the sink and had both hands over his mouth. After a tense minute of Lopez looking around suspiciously, he left, and Miguel didn’t waste a moment on climbing out. He was almost halfway out when a hand reached out and grabbed his t-shirt with a vice-like grip.

“Where do you think you’re going, boy?” Lopez snarled in his face. But Miguel wasn’t deterred and started screaming, instantly remembering what had happened in the Land of the Dead. “You’re not going anywhere unless you give me back what is mine!” Lopez screamed as de la Cruz’s face flashed in Miguel’s memory.

Fear creeped up Miguel’s spine and his mind reeled in terror  as he stared into the cold eyes of Lopez. De la Cruz tossing him into the cavern, the concert, being held over the edge, falling, nearly dying. It was too much.

 **“NO!”** Miguel screamed as he twisted and turned against his captor. But Lopez did not let up and twisted Miguel’s arm harder. Miguel didn’t stop fighting, not even as he heard a sickening crack coming from his left arm as Lopez tossed him to the ground. Miguel laid on the ground in agony, his arm feeling as if it was on fire. He barely managed to keep his cries of pain at bay. Lopez seemed to take the young boys silence as a sign of defeat. Just as he began to reach over to drag him to who knows where Miguel seemed to have had a shot of adrenaline or the need to survive.

With a quick kick to Lopez’s shin, Miguel bolted out of the kitchen and the house. He gripped his injured arm gingerly and he made a mad dashtowards the graveyard, sending silent pleas to the ancestors for help as he ran, trying to get away from de la—Lopez. _No, de la Cruz is in the Land of the Dead. I’m in the Land of the Living._

“Por favor, Papá Héctor, mi familia. Help me.”


End file.
